Speculative Fiction: This Never Happened
by Crystal Mizuka
Summary: **Discontinued** A girl is befriended by a waterfall spirit and enters a tournament that encompasses the fate of the world. Life seemed a lot less episodic before she met Hao. Her friends really aren't much help with that either.
1. Introduction Part 1

Additional Author's Notes: If you are reading this, then I would just like to be perfectly clear that what you see here was originally posted on my LiveJournal Community for the enjoyment of my friends as we speculated about how the manga was going to end. I started this little series of side stories back in March in an effort to give some background to the original characters I was dealing with while role-playing. Originally I had no desire to make a big production out of it, but then it turned out a lot better than I thought it would. It might be a little rough around the edges, but it gave me the opportunity to explore some interesting territory. Anyway, if I haven't scared you off already, I hope you will enjoy the story.

At the very least you won't have to wait around for five months to get through the whole thing like my friends did.

* * *

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei.

Author's Notes: As a result of reading ahead through the Manga scanlations of the original Shaman King manga release and the most recent additions in the Kang Zeng Bang continuation I have begun to rethink certain aspects of the character I had created for the Mankin Universe, originally based exclusively on information from the Anime, but modified accordingly as I learned new details from reading the Manga. At this point I believe, with some confidence, that I should be able to finally tell her story from the beginning. If you have a low tolerance for original characters and/or alternative universes, then I would advise you to occupy your attention elsewhere as this probably isn't for you. I hope that the rest of you will be able to find some enjoyment from this little side story as I already have a good feeling about it and I've barely even gotten started yet.

* * *

Introduction Part 1 -- At That Time

It was something I never really gave much thought to. I mean, I knew my mom didn't like me hiking to the waterfall by myself because of the remote possibility that there could be mountain lions in the area, but it was hard for me to believe that there was really anything dangerous about that particular trail. After all, I grew up there and it was a place I always felt comfortable with even when the rest of the world was getting me down.

Back then the state park was my backyard. I didn't know about the spirit world, or rather, I wasn't yet aware that I had already become acquainted with it. Sure, I had experienced some things that I couldn't explain and my ideas when playing make believe had a way of seeming a little too _real_ much to the discomfort of the parties involved, but I managed to remain firmly grounded by the association that I simply had an overactive imagination.

That way of thinking was alright while I was still in elementary school, but as soon as I was in middle school I was expected to stop playing around and act more grown up. I was a little upset at first, but I got over it because I could still keep a record of my stories in writing even if I could act them out myself. I was nearly ready to accept that anything out of the ordinary that might have happened to me before was merely something I had imagined.

I'm not sure what would have happened if I had carried on that way, but on that day it didn't matter because as I was walking along the usual path to the waterfall I saw him. In retrospect, it might have helped if I had payed a little more attention to the strange, dark-haired boy in the white cloak and fantastically over-decorated pants, but it was the flaming giant that stood behind him that really got my attention. It was unlike anything I had ever imagined which meant I couldn't possibly have been responsible for the fact that it was standing there and yet there it was plain as day.

The moment didn't last long. The boy climbed onto the giant's outstretched hand and took to the sky. In a matter of seconds they were gone from sight as if nothing had happened. I was about ready to dismiss the whole thing as a trick of the light or something, but nevertheless I decided I might as well head home.

* * *

The following afternoon I couldn't shake the feeling that something important had happened. With that in mind I decided that this time around I wouldn't be deterred from making the journey to the waterfall. There was no better place for me to collect my thoughts and ease my nerves. However, even a place I had become so familiar with over the years had managed to change in a way that I hadn't thought to prepare myself for.

At first glance it looked as if there was a perfectly ordinary, albeit rather out of place, small black kitten sitting on a rock in the middle of the creek staring at me with piercing green eyes. At first I was a little taken aback simply because this wasn't the sort of place one might expect to find such a small, helpless creature. However, I think it was the intelligent gleam in its eyes that made me start to wonder if perhaps things weren't quite as they appeared. When the kitten spoke an instant later my suspicions were confirmed and my life would be changed forever.

"You're late," the kitten remarked in a commanding tone that seemed rather unfitting for one so small.

I was momentarily dumbfounded. To her credit, taking on the form of a talking cat was probably the most effective way to get my attention on account of the fact that it, like the fiery giant, was something that I never would have thought of on my own. If not for that fact I might well have remained a skeptic. However, as it was, I managed to find my voice to respond to the talking kitten that stood before me.

"Are you talking to me?" It seemed like such a silly question because the kitten was looking straight at me, but I didn't want to jump to any wrong conclusions.

"I don't see any other small blond human children around here in direct violation of the rules set by their parents," the kitten assured her. "And I take it you must be wondering about that guy that was here yesterday."

At that point I must have fallen over into the creek because I distinctly remember going home wet. I stared at the strange, talking kitten for a moment before speaking up again.

"Who or what are you? And why do you know so much about me?" I must have really sounded like an idiot, but then again I honestly had no idea what I was getting into back then.

"You can call me Taki," the kitten responded in what seemed, at first, to be an unnecessarily cheerfully manner, but I think in reality she was trying to make me feel more comfortable. "It's Japanese for the word 'waterfall' and I'm sure if you think about it hard enough you can figure out the rest for yourself." She paused for several long seconds like she was waiting for me to say something to all that and then she continued. "Anyway, there isn't really a whole lot of time for that so I guess since you've been such a good sport about all this I'll just go ahead and tell you I'm the spirit of this waterfall."

Alright, maybe this was when I fell over. On the other hand maybe I just didn't bother to get back up.

"Considering how often you come here we've known each other for a pretty long time," Taki added hurriedly. "I know this is a lot to take in, but you probably already know that I'm telling you the truth."

When I stopped to think about it I realized that this was indeed the case even if I didn't fully comprehend why that was. After a brief pause I nodded in confirmation to show that I at least had a partial understanding of what she was saying.

"I can see _spirits_?" I asked trying to keep the surprise from my voice and failing spectacularly. I had joked about the supernatural often enough with my friends that it didn't come as a total shock to me, but the fact that everything I had almost managed to discredit as being a product of my overactive imagination was being revealed to me to be something that was in fact real still caught me by surprise. It didn't last long because the more I thought about it the more it just seemed right to me somehow.

"Now you're getting it," Taki replied. She hopped off the rock she had been sitting on and began strolling leisurely upstream along the surface of the water to join me. "Well, I've taken some liberties and discouraged the more malicious ones from bothering you, but the more playful and mischievous ones have been around you all the time." She paused and added, "I hope they didn't give you and your friends at school too much trouble. They were bored so I figured you might be able to have some fun with them even if you didn't realize what you were doing."

"I'm sorry," I answered dumbly. "I'm not sure I get what you're saying."

Taki struck a dramatic pose on the water raising a forepaw to point up at me, "You are someone who is capable of seeing and interacting with the spirit world."

I continued to stare blankly at her.

"Kiddo," Taki pounced onto my chest and pinned me down on my back against the edge of the creek, "you have shamanic powers!"

At the time I didn't understand what that meant, but it would eventually prove to be a significant aspect of my future.

**To Be Continued...**


	2. Introduction Part 2

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei.

* * *

Introduction Part 2 -- Using What You Know

I still sometimes wonder how things might have turned out if I had never learned about my powers. I guess I was never really what you might call normal and it made it difficult for me to fit in with kids my own age, but there were still plenty of others that I could relate to. Being told that I had shamanic powers undoubtedly tipped the scale in an unexpected direction. I had always emphasized the importance of being true to yourself and being able to trust in your friends, but I got the distinct impression that this wasn't what any of us had in mind. Even though some of the other kids had been able to see the same things that I had on the playground after school it seemed like for most of them it was an easy enough thing to forget. It was going to prove to be difficult to get anyone to believe me and even if I did there was no reason to assume they were going like to me for it.

I told a lot of stories while I was growing up. This had been under the assumption that nothing I had imagined could possibly be true, but as that encounter with Taki would eventually show me that wasn't entirely accurate. The mind, the body and the spirit are all intrinsically connected. With enough willpower and determination that framework had the potential to manifest itself in some pretty peculiar ways. For instance, a group of children on an elementary school playground could summon a storm out of a strong desire for it to rain. They didn't necessarily need to understand the forces at work in order to make it happen. It was just a simple matter of believing strongly enough that it would. Of course having power and being able to control that power are two very different things. That was the reason that Taki had chosen to reveal herself to me.

"What do you mean by 'shamanic powers'?" I had to ask. By that point I had more or less completely given up on getting out of the creek. It was a warm enough day that going home soaking wet wouldn't cause me any harm.

"Let's see," Taki kindly removed herself from my torso to settle on standing on the surface of the flowing water again. It was still a little strange to watch, but it was also kind of soothing. "You remember those times on the playground when you would suggest that there was something there to chase everyone and it seemed like it actually happened? Or that time at that one guy's house when you imagined all those zombies terrorizing the hillside effectively scaring yourself and your friends silly until your parents came to rescue you? Some of the local spirits decided to play along with you and kind of piggybacked on the energy field you were generating to materialize as the sort of things you were thinking of. They were still relatively harmless, of course, because all they wanted to do was play around with you because you could see and interact with them. By the way, they thought it was pretty funny."

"Of course I remember that all that stuff," I had responded automatically. It took me several long seconds to realize the implications of what Taki had actually said. "Wait, does that mean you've been following me around?"

Taki nodded, "I've been keeping an eye on you. Since you weren't completely aware of your powers I figured you were safe, but that isn't the case anymore."

The nervous look that crossed Taki's features probably did a better job of making me realize that I should have been concerned for my safety as well than her words themselves. She had sounded so cheerful and bouncy before that it was incredibly off putting that her mood should change so drastically. I had to know more.

"What's the matter?" I asked hesitantly.

"That guy that was here yesterday is a powerful shaman and a dangerous one at that," Taki explained. "If you don't learn how to control your powers that could prove to be a problem so I've decided that I'm going to teach you."

* * *

It turned out that there wasn't a whole lot that she had to teach me other than to make me consciously aware of the sort of things that I was already doing subconsciously. That included stuff like producing barriers to ward off malevolent spirits and being able to materialize some of the local spirits in various forms that I could think of. As I became more adept at using my powers those same spirits gradually became more serviceable and less mischievous since they didn't have to work so hard to get my attention.

There were some other things that I experimented with on my own. It was more a matter of curiosity than anything else, but I had previously toyed around with the concept of channeling my energy to change the air temperature around me. The next obvious step was to push that knowledge to the point that I could cause the oxygen in the air to ignite to produce flames or on the opposite end of the spectrum cause the moisture in the atmosphere to condense into water or freeze into ice. I didn't expect it to be so simple at first, but once I got the hang of it I started working on various combinations to make things a little more interesting.

"I wasn't expecting you to be such a fast learner," Taki confessed eventually. "I guess you were giving a lot of thought to this kind of stuff even when you didn't realize there was something to be gained from it."

"It's essentially mind over matter," was the way I decided to explain it. "I just need to have a general idea of how a process is supposed to work and I can make it happen. It really isn't very complicated." I paused and added, "I guess I shouldn't abuse this information too much since that could be dangerous."

Taki shrugged, "It shouldn't be an issue as long as you remember to stay in control."

* * *

When I returned to the waterfall the next day Taki wanted me to try something different. So far everything she had been teaching me relied pretty much exclusively on my own power and my ability to manipulate it. What Taki had in mind on that particular day would prove to be much more dramatic.

"Alright," Taki started as soon as I got there. "Today I'm going to walk you through something a little bit different from what you're used to."

I nodded and listened attentively. It sounded like whatever she had up her sleeve was going to be interesting.

"I want you to make an Oversoul by integrating me into that dragon pendant of yours," Taki stated plainly. "It's kind of similar to when you materialize those other nature spirits, but those guys don't really pack much of a punch. This way we'll be able to determine just how well you are able to direct all that energy of yours."

"Uh," I started dumbly. "An Oversoul, huh? What am I supposed to do once you merge with the pendant?"

"Use your imagination to give a shape to the overflowing spiritual power," Taki stated plainly. "It's something you've already gotten pretty good at."

With that the small black kitten that was actually the spirit of the waterfall assumed the form of a spirit flame and floated over to me with a somewhat impatient expression on her face. I guess she was anxious to see just what I was capable of and to be perfectly honest I really don't blame her. I was feeling pretty excited about it too.

So I reached out with my right hand to take hold of the spirit flame that represented Taki and pressed her into the pendant hanging from the stainless steel chain that was around my neck. In the next instant I became engulfed in a blinding silvery blue light and it took me a moment to realize that this particular light was actually coming off of me. Once I realized that was the case it also dawned on me that I would need to concentrate harder to give it a comprehensible shape. For some reason the first thing that came to mind was a short sword with the hilt in the shape of a dragon. I decided that would just have to be good enough and focused on redirecting all of that radiant energy into the palm of my hand where it obediently assumed the form of the sword I had envisioned, albeit a little more ethereal and glowing than one might have expected of a sword.

As soon as I had the sword in my hand the explosive spiral of energy that had be surrounded me seemed to settle down. It might have been nice after all that if I could have relaxed and let myself absorb what had just happened, but things seldom work out that way and my little light show didn't go entirely unnoticed which meant that I was going to be in for some rather unexpected company. Never a dull moment indeed.

**To Be Continued...**


	3. Introduction Part 3

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei.

* * *

Introduction Part 3 -- The Diverging Path

It was probably inevitable that my chosen lifestyle was ultimately going to cause some problems. My idealistic attitude of trying to believe that there is some good in everyone and my moral values were more commonly acceptable among the protagonists of Saturday morning cartoons. In the real world most people don't normally take those sort of things seriously and the people that do are largely frowned upon for being childish and immature. In that regard the difficulty I was having with my life had very little to do with my becoming a shaman and more to do with the way society as a whole is regulated. Since the vast majority of people in the world have been conditioned from youth to pursue their own interests without much regard for the people they need to step on along the way. Having an open mind is all well and good, but it isn't likely to get you very far unless you happen to have the influence to back it up.

It wouldn't be wrong to say that I didn't get along well with most people. I don't hate humanity, but I do hate the way people treat each other. There are plenty of people out there who would love for the world to be more like how it is depicted on television, but very few of them would actually be motivated to do anything about it. I did try to reach out to those who happened to share my perspective, but once I started going to a different school than the friends I already had it just got harder. It was starting to feel like a losing battle.

That was part of the reason that I had started hiking to the waterfall after school. It was one of the few places where I could just go ahead and be myself without anyone around to judge me for it. At least, that was what I had thought before Taki had revealed herself to me. In that sense I had never really been alone even when playground regulations had managed to isolate me from my human friends by stating that I wasn't allowed to be there now that I was attending another school. This was undoubtedly another ploy by the adults to encourage kids my age to concentrate on growing up. I suppose it worked in most cases, but for me it had proven to be rather detrimental to my social life.

I couldn't very well discuss my activities at the waterfall with my family considering I wasn't technically supposed to go there by myself and I was reasonably certain that none of them could even see Taki. In that regard I was eventually proven wrong when my younger brother also somehow managed to become a shaman, but that was still quite a long way from coming to my attention at that point. I enjoyed the time I spent with Taki and the other nature spirits that inhabited the surrounding area because it didn't matter to them that I was a little strange as long as I had good ideas of what to do for fun.

And then Taki decided to teach me how to make an Oversoul. I don't really know how powerful I was back then, but shortly after I managed to get it under control in the shape of a dragon hilted short sword that flaming giant I had first seen on that fateful day that seemed so long ago to me by that time decided to come back. This time around, however, I had actually had enough insight to realize that the fiery giant was an Oversoul and the long haired boy standing in its outstretched hand was actually the one calling the shots.

* * *

I would seem to have developed a talent for reacting to strange or outlandish circumstances as if they are completely normal and not at all out of the ordinary. This would explain why I wasn't at all perturbed by my first encounter with a talking cat claiming to be the spirit of a waterfall and my total lack of apprehension when faced with a giant made of fire. Being as this would be my first genuine encounter with another shaman it was probably for the best that I was able to take these sort of occurrences in stride as long as I didn't stop to think about it too much.

"Well now this certainly is interesting," the boy I would later know as Hao addressed me as he had the fiery giant more commonly known as Spirit of Fire lower him to ground level. "When I saw you a month ago you didn't even know you were a shaman and you've already learned how to create an Oversoul. Perhaps you might be useful after all."

"I find it hard to believe that you came back here just to see me," was my reply. I released my grip on the ethereal sword that had taken up residence in my right hand and took the opportunity to disengage my Oversoul. Taki, still in the form of a spirit flame, emerged from the pendant that was around my neck a split second later before reverting back into the form of a small black kitten standing along the surface of the water of the creek.

"I must admit it is a little surprising to me that a power spike like that came from someone like you," Hao, even saying so, didn't really look surprised. Then again, it was kind of hard to read anything from his amused smile that was really more of a self-satisfied smirk. He stepped down from the flaming hand of the Spirit of Fire to stand on the bank of the creek opposite where I was already standing. The fiery giant promptly vanished from view although I was reasonably certain that didn't mean that it was necessarily gone.

"Perhaps you might be interested in testing out your skills in an upcoming tournament," he made the suggestion so that it sounded rather off-handed. "The Shaman Fight in Tokyo will take place several years from now. It would definitely give you the opportunity to get acquainted with other shamans like yourself."

"I'm not sure what I'd have to gain from entering a tournament," I started automatically before I realized that he had already taken into account what I had to say. I paused for several long seconds as that seemingly trivial piece of information started to sink in. I performed a double-take, "Wait. Did you just read my mind?"

At the time I didn't understand the significance of that question although to be fair it wouldn't have been the first time someone had responded to what I was thinking before I actually got around to saying anything. I did manage to catch what might have been a brief look of surprise crossing Hao's features, but he regained his composure so quickly that it's possible that I might have just imagined it.

"You're awfully sharp aren't you?" Hao simply looked amused again.

"Only when I don't mean to be," I answered truthfully. I guess, in a way, it's kind of funny that I always used to worry that some of my insights would get me into trouble. I decided I might as well get the conversation back on topic, "I take it you'll be competing in this tournament you've been talking about. And if that is indeed the case, then wouldn't it be easier for you if there were less competition? Why even bother to recruit someone like me?"

"I need supporters to help me accomplish my goal," Hao explained without faltering. I waited for him to continue because I had in good authority that he already knew what I would ask next. "I will become that Shaman King and create my Shaman Kingdom by eliminating all the humans."

"You almost had me there," I was able to remain surprisingly calm even for me. "But you kind of lost me with that last part."

"Oh?" he gave me a sort of questioning look.

"I'm not really sure what this Shaman King business is all about," I replied true to form, "but if you're planning on killing people, then you can count me out. I know there are plenty of idiots out there that I wouldn't mind taking a swing at myself, but I'm not about to condone killing to get rid of them."

"That's too bad," Hao's amused smile didn't even waver. "Of course the Shaman Fight is still a long way off. Perhaps you will change your mind by then."

The fiery hand of the Spirit of Fire materialized beneath him and easily lifted him high above the ground. It was then that I had a pretty good idea that I had become a part of something that went well beyond what I could have imagined. Still, it appeared that Hao had no desire to force the issue at that moment.

"If you do decide to show up for the tournament it should be interesting to see how much your skills improve," he commented as he towered among the surrounding trees in the Spirit of Fire's outstretched hand. Hao threw a small object from his perch that I somehow managed to catch before it could hit the ground. "By the way, you can call me Hao, the Future King."

With that the Spirit of Fire took off into the late afternoon sky and quickly disappeared beyond the horizon. Considering the creek itself was surrounded by numerous hillsides they didn't have to travel far to accomplish this, but nevertheless the effect was pretty dramatic to watch.

* * *

I rounded on Taki, "What the hell did I just get myself into?"

I wasn't usually one to swear, but this particular situation was kind of a big deal and my usual sense of restraint was in short supply by that point.

"I'm not really sure," Taki spoke up hesitantly in an effort to make herself look innocent. "I thought he was going to kill us."

"Why? Is that the sort of thing he's likely to do?" I demanded.

"Uh, well..." Taki kind of trailed off and went quiet for a moment. She decided to peer at my hand instead of attempting to actually answer my question. "Say, what did he give you anyway?"

I shrugged and glanced at the object that I had received just before Hao's departure. It was a rather ordinary red wristband with a pattern of yellow stars on it. I held it up briefly so that Taki could see it and proceeded to slip it onto my left wrist.

Taki stared at me, "You're going to keep it?"

"Have you got a better idea?" I glanced down to consult her. Seeing that all she could do in response was shake her head I continued in a more relaxed manner, "I think it's alright. He doesn't strike be as such a bad guy so there must be a reason for what he's doing."

**To be Continued...**


	4. Introduction Part 4

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei.

* * *

Introduction Part 4 -- Getting Ready

After Hao departed from the waterfall I eventually decided to hike downstream to calm my nerves. Now, the waterfall itself isn't actually on the trail since you have to follow the creek from a certain point to get to it and even then it's only really accessible to people who already have a general idea of where it is. That was one of the reasons it always seemed like such a good place to go when I wanted to be alone because not a lot of people go there. Of course I was never really alone once I became aware of all the spirits that were in the area, but it was still a good place to get away from the burden of society for a little while. Getting to the waterfall was relatively easy, but hiking downstream was another matter entirely because the path through the creek was never the same twice.

Even though the general idea was to follow the creek downstream until I would eventually reach the street it still involved following the numerous twists and turns that the creek would take through the many hillsides that surrounded it. There were rock ledges that needed to be climbed in order to meet the creek again on the other side and a whole lot of debris was scattered everywhere after having been washed down during the last heavy rain. There were some large tree trunks wedged between narrow passes in the creek that needed to be crossed carefully because of how precariously they were balanced. It was a rather hazardous path to take, but the scenery was pretty incredible to look at as long as I was careful.

The first time I had gone on that hike had been with my dad when I was still a little kid. I had been too small then to climb up most of the rock ledges myself and my dad had to carry me, but once I got older I could do it myself and eventually I led a small expedition with my mom, my brother and some of our friends. This time, however, I was going it alone. I guess there was a part of me after that encounter with Hao that wanted to prove to me that I could. After all, if I was going to participate in the Shaman Fight in Tokyo that he had been talking there wasn't a doubt in my mind that I was going to have to somehow make my way on my own. It wasn't until a short time later that Taki and I would decide to become partners.

* * *

It was more or less impossible to gauge distance traveling along the creek, but after several hours of wandering aimlessly down stream I finally reached the main road at the bottom of the hillside near my house. I guess you could say that it was fortunate that I managed to get home before my parents because I don't think I was in any state of mind to explain myself to them at the time. For a little while afterward I was reluctant to go back to the waterfall as if I could just forget about what had happened and it would all just go away. Eventually I realized that whatever else was going on, I had to follow through on what I had started because it was the only way to make a difference.

With that resolve I returned to the waterfall to confront Taki.

"I didn't think you were coming back," she spoke timidly when I reached the final stretch of the creek that would take me to the waterfall itself.

"Neither did I," I admitted. "Still, I can't just ignore what that guy said so I feel like I should do something." There was a long pause before I spoke up again. "I want you to teach me more about using an Oversoul. And, if possible, I would also like for you to teach me Japanese. If I'm going to Tokyo in a couple of years I'm going to need to know the language."

"I'll teach you," the small black kitten started slowly, "but it's going to be under one condition."

"And what condition is that?" was my immediate response.

"I want you to take me with you," Taki answered with determination. "You're going to need a strong spirit ally to work with during the tournament and you aren't likely to find any that will be able to mesh with your mental energy like I can. We could make an excellent team."

I smiled, "Sounds like a plan to me."

* * *

So it came to pass that when I wasn't busy with school or maintaining the illusion of an active social life I would spend my time at the waterfall training with Taki to realize my potential. To put it simply I wanted to know what I was capable of even if it was highly unlikely that I would be willing to employ my full power in an actual fight. It didn't take long for using an Oversoul to become like second nature to me.

What I didn't know at the time was that my brother had caught on to what I was doing and wanted in on the action. It seems somehow ironic that he would ultimately end up being defeated early on by an opponent who would go on to become one of my closest friends. I'm actually rather glad I wasn't the one to have to fight him. He was always too stubborn to admit defeat even if it meant getting hurt in the process and truth be told I don't like wasting my energy on him.

As I felt that the time of my departure was drawing closer I tried to explain the fact that I would soon be leaving to my parents and some of my close friends. I think my mom kind of understood what I was saying even if I couldn't tell her the whole story and there were certainly those among my friends who believed what I told them. When it came to be time for me to leave behind the world I had known up until that point I didn't want to leave behind any loose ends. I had the feeling that I was going to be in for a long and difficult journey.

* * *

When the time came for me to leave I decided it would be best to do so under the cover of night. For that purpose I hiked to the top of the mountain where the large parking lot reserved for the upper section of the park would be deserted in the event that my imminent departure might draw some unwanted attention. This turned out to be good decision on my part because as fate would have it this was when I saw Hao again and this time he wasn't alone because he was transporting his followers to the tournament. It so happened that Spirit of Fire also appeared to have gotten larger since the last time I had seen either of them.

"So," Hao addressed me directly, "does this mean you've decided to join me?"

"No," I stated as firmly as I could without sounding confrontational about it. "Hao, was it? This just goes to show that Fate is trying to toss me into the center of some kind of cosmic joke. I'm still trying to figure out what the punchline is though."

I have it in good authority that Hao's followers were not at all amused by the informal manner in which I addressed him. I don't think my attempt at using wordplay to lighten the mood was any help either, but I thought it seemed like a fair analysis of my situation at the time. One of the girls that was with him, the one with orange hair that I would later come to know as Macchi, actually stepped forward to be vocal about it.

"Hey," she shouted at me in a deeply offended tone, "you shouldn't be so rude when you speak to Hao-sama!"

I would have liked to inform her that there is a difference between being rude and being casual, but unfortunately that really wasn't the time or place for it. Hao waved her off about it anyway so it wasn't as if it was going to develop into anything at that point in time.

"Anyway," I turned my attention to Hao again, "I've decided to see for myself just what this is all about. Anything I learn along the way should help to get me pointed in the right direction."

"Are you sure you don't need a lift?" Hao raised a hand to indicate the towering form of Spirit of Fire looming behind him.

"It's nice of you to ask," I replied with some amusement, "but I think we'll be able to manage just fine on our own. Besides, I don't think your friends like me very much right now."

* * *

Shortly after that Hao left taking his followers with him on Spirit of Fire. Once they were well out of sight I finally got around to engaging my own Oversoul to commence the journey. The form I had chosen to get myself and Taki to Japan was what I liked to consider a kind of spaceship although in all honesty it actually looked like a fairly ordinary, if slightly over-sized, car that had been modified with rocket boosters out of an old fashioned video game or science fiction movie. The color scheme was electric blue with silver highlights and anyone who might have seen it in flight probably would have been thinking more about extraterrestrials and UFOs than they would have been about ghosts and spirits. Naturally that kind of thinking would have suited me just fine.

So it was that I took off into the night without any idea of what to expect in the near future. And that was when my adventure as a shaman really began.

**Introduction -- End**


	5. Miscellaneous Part 1

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

Author's Notes: Now that I've finished the part of the story dealing with how and why Crystal became a shaman in the first place I have time to focus on certain other key events that would have happened along the way. With this segment I will be focusing on events that would have coincided with what was going on in chapter 108 of the manga when everyone finally reached the Patch Village and encountered the Great Spirit for the first time. Put simply, I will be using this segment to explore Crystal's initial reaction to the Great Spirit as well as what happened afterward.

* * *

Miscellaneous Part 1 -- Dreams and Visions of an Anomaly

Crystal had thought it was strange when after all that searching for the Patch Village it turned out to be in proximity to the route that her family had taken to go camping in the mountains during several past summers. Of course it wasn't anywhere near the road she was familiar with and they had been approaching it from the opposite direction, but the surrounding area definitely felt familiar to her. This turned out to be the least of her concerns when upon entering the village she was faced with the impressive, towering shapeless mass that represented the Great Spirit and the vision that accompanied witnessing it.

If one had to describe this vision the simplest way would be to call it a heavily condensed review of the history of the planet Earth and all the memories that went with it. Of course that wouldn't have done it justice. The ever changing face of the planet itself, the overwhelming number of extinct and living species that have and/or continue to inhabit its surface, the positions of the stars in the night sky, and finally arriving at the memories of your own brief existence occupying the planet would have probably been enough to give most people an incredible sense of awe. This turned out to be fairly comfortable territory for Crystal considering she had spent the better part of her youth obsessed with dinosaurs and had even considered going into a career in paleontology prior to her decision at the end of elementary school to focus more on her gift for telling stories.

Now, it might be said that some of these stories weren't purely works of fiction in the sense that they had a certain amount of truth when it was taken into consideration that much of Crystal's inspiration was from her dreams. She had always generally accepted the idea that it was possible to draw certain insights about her life by paying close attention to what she could remember about her dreams, but it wasn't until she became aware of her powers a shaman that she was really able to take this knowledge to heart. It would seem that there are some messages that we are more receptive to or are better able to piece together when we experience them as dreams.

Perhaps that was the reason that it was necessary for Crystal to lose consciousness at that time.

* * *

_The first thing she noticed was the sound of waves beating against the sand of a beach. When she opened her eyes she was still flat on her back looking up into the sky. Sitting up to have a look around Crystal was already vaguely aware that there was something peculiar about this particular beach. To start, there was something rather off about the color of the sky or more accurately it was the fact that the sky appeared to be entirely devoid of actual color. The same could also be said of the ocean and the sand that had been cushioning her up until this point. She peered down at her own two hands to find that they too were devoid of color. It was like being caught inside of a black and white photograph. It was somehow familiar to her and although she couldn't quite place it at the time there was enough about the situation to make it strange enough for her to realize that she was dreaming._

_"But why would I dream about a place like this?" she wondered to herself. Now that she was more lucid she felt a strong desire to take advantage of the situation to transition to a place that would be more to her liking. As soon as she was on her feet a rift materialized in front of her and she stepped through it without hesitation. At that moment anywhere else would have been better than that dreary excuse for a beach._

_On the other side of the rift she emerged near the bank of a river. It was still dark, but her reflection in the water assured her that it was simply because this place was in the guise of a night. Looking up she could see a sky full of mostly familiar and a few unfamiliar constellations of stars. The basis for this place was probably somewhere she had actually been, but her subconscious had taken some liberties with the details to make it different enough that she couldn't place it either. All that aside, it was really quite lovely._

_If she could have her way, Crystal was just going to stretch out on the grass by the river and look up at the stars until the dream was over. For the time being it certainly didn't seem as if anything else was likely to happen._

* * *

Cat had understandably worked herself into a panic. Crystal didn't seem like the type to faint over something like this and yet there she was unconscious immediately after witnessing the Great Spirit. It wouldn't have been nearly as bad if she would have snapped out of it soon afterward, but she was still out and didn't seem to be showing any sign that she would be coming out of it anytime soon. Alright, so it had only been a few minutes, but it definitely wasn't normal.

"I really don't think this is the best time for her to be taking a nap," the younger girl grumbled in dismay. Obviously the most unsettling thing about the situation was that she couldn't do anything about it.

It was Taki who spoke up next, "I doubt she's just taking a nap. If that were the case we should be able to wake her up, but she's totally unresponsive. It's more like she's in some kind of trance."

"Then how are we supposed to snap her out of it?" Cat demanded. "We can't just sit around here waiting when we still need to find out about the next round of the tournament."

Taki sighed heavily, "I don't know. This kind of thing has never happened to her before. At least not that I'm aware of. It must be a side effect of coming into contact with the Great Spirit or something is all I can think of."

"Then there's really nothing we can do?" Cat didn't like the answers she was getting from Taki. What she disliked even more was the fact that Taki was being so calm about her partner's condition.

Taki shrugged, "Not unless you can think of someone who might be able to get through to her."

* * *

_Something wasn't quite right. Crystal was sure she should have woken up by now. And even if she were to disregard that, she had never managed to remain lucid for so long before. It gradually occurred to her that this really wasn't a normal kind of dream and if that was indeed the case, then there might be something she needed to accomplish before she would be able to wake herself up. That was certainly going to pose a problem considering she didn't even know why she was having the dream in the first place, let alone when she had gone to sleep at all._

_"But I do have a certain measure of control of this place," she reminded herself. She continued to voice her thoughts to herself because the silence was making her a little uncomfortable. "Even so, I don't know why or how I ended up on that beach in the first place. It isn't the kind of place I would choose to go voluntarily. And even though this place I'm at now is nice to look at it, it's still incredibly empty and devoid of life. I'm the only one here. Normally I wouldn't mind the solitude, but in this case I don't like it. It seems wrong somehow."_

_A sudden movement she thought she saw out of the corner of her eye caused Crystal to stop talking. She propped herself on her side to have a better look in that direction. What she saw from that position was a pair of heavily scaled, clawed feet that connected to equally scale-covered legs as her line of sight continued moving upward. By the time she got to seeing the impressive, leathery wingspan and fangs glinting from its snout in the moonlight there was no mistaking what this creature must have been. But what reason was there for her to encounter a dragon in a place like this?_

_"It would seem that you lack motivation," the dragon spoke in a voice that sounded eerily familiar. It sounded exactly like Crystal's own voice. "Why haven't you returned to reality?"_

_"I don't even know how I got here!" Crystal responded automatically. Then she paused and stared up at the rather perplexing figure of the dragon. "Who the heck are you anyway?"_

_"It can't be helped that you've forgotten," the dragon answered in a tone that was filled with irony. "I'm you. Or, at least, more accurately, I used to be."_

_"That's not possible," Crystal found herself protesting. There was no denying that she had a certain fondness for dragons, but the thought that she might have been one seemed preposterous to her._

_"Believe what you want," the dragon responded as if it didn't really matter. "However, you won't be much help to anyone until you are ready to get in touch with yourself. Whether or not that will happen is entirely up to you as you are now."_

_Crystal tried to make herself sound more relaxed than she really felt, "How am I supposed to get out of here?"_

_"You should already know the answer," the dragon replied with a fang-filled grin. "Why don't you try waking up?"_

* * *

Crystal opened her eyes and sat up rather abruptly. She could remember arriving at the Patch Village and seeing the Great Spirit, but then she didn't remember having been in the strange room she found herself in now. It wasn't difficult for her to reason that someone must have moved her there while she had been asleep. That raised the question of just how long she had been unconscious anyway. However, at the moment there was something else she wanted to make sure of and to that end she made a point of holding her hands out in front of her. They were fairly average, moderately feminine, and distinctly human hands which to her was a huge relief.

"What was that all about anyway?" she wondered aloud.

"And here you're usually such a light sleeper," Taki peered up at her from the foot of the bed. When Crystal didn't respond right away the small black kitten continued, "You've been out most of the afternoon. Cat was fussing over you for awhile, but then she got hungry and decided she needed to go out and find where the Patch are hiding all the normal food. I guess she doesn't like fish and banana soup. So anyway, I've just been waiting around keeping an eye on you figuring you would come around eventually."

Crystal relaxed a little, "Did I say anything while I was unconscious?"

"No," Taki answered after a brief pause, "you weren't talking in your sleep. That must have really been some dream though."

"I don't know," Crystal started almost reluctantly. "It seemed almost too real for my taste."

**To Be Continued...**


	6. Miscellaneous Part 2

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

Author's Notes: So, in chapter 112 it is briefly established (in a single panel) that two months pass between the time that the qualifying shamans arrived at the Patch Village and the transition to the uncharted island of Tokyo for the first official round of the Shaman Fight. It is later implied that this time span was utilized for training purposes. With that in mind it seems only fair that I should use this segment to explore some of the trouble Crystal managed to get herself into during that time.

* * *

Miscellaneous Part 2 - Facing the Enemy Within

When Crystal learned that the rules to qualify for the first round of the Shaman Fight required for the participants to form their own teams of three she very nearly considered recommending to Cat that they should forfeit while they were ahead. However, this particular plan of action was quickly overshadowed by the arrival of an unexpected guest. She might have found it rather difficult to believe that this particular visitor had managed to slip under the radar, even in the closed confines of the Patch Jumbo Jet, to arrive here now except for the fact that she was all too familiar with this particular individuals capacity for going totally unnoticed in a crowd if he didn't intend to be found.

"It looks like you could use another person on your team," Tyriel slipped soundlessly into the room that had been supplied to the two girls sometime during the time in which Crystal had been unconscious. Tyriel's entrance seemed to deliberately emphasize the mysterious nature of how he had managed to go unnoticed all this time. He was quite a bit taller since the last time Crystal had seen him and he'd put on some muscle, but there was no mistaking those almost luminescent eyes that refused to settle on a single color and the dark, unruly hair that served to compliment his somewhat beast-like presence.

"Should I even bother to ask how long you've been following me?" Crystal remained sitting cross-legged on the bed still vaguely contemplating her next move. The fact that someone else would volunteer to join them hadn't previously occurred to her and more to the point, she hadn't been expecting to see anyone from her past to show up during the Shaman Fight. She thought she had left the friends from that part of her life back home. Still, if Tyriel was there talking about them needing an extra person, then that must have meant that somewhere down the line he had become a shaman behind her back and then he had learned about the Shaman Fight. She wouldn't put it past him, especially considering the fact that he was standing there in front of her.

"I guess you could say I've been keeping on eye on you from the shadows for quite some time now," Tyriel admitted. "I felt that now was as good a time as any to reveal myself." He paused and took on a slightly more serious tone, "I've been a bit concerned since you haven't exactly been acting like yourself lately."

"Wait," Cat demanded after taking in the context of the situation. It was one thing for a strange guy to just materialize out of nowhere, but the fact that Crystal seemed to know him and was being so calm about the fact that he had apparently been stalking them unnoticed all this time was too much. "You know this guy?!"

Crystal paused to consider how to handle this. She decided she should probably handle the introductions herself since there were certain personality traits that needed to be addressed. She raised her hand to indicate Cat first, "Tyriel, this is Cat. She's been a good friend so please try to be nice." Then she waved her hand to indicate Tyriel, "Cat, this is Tyriel. He's an old friend from back home. Be careful. He bites." She paused for a second and added, "Try to get along you two."

"You've got to be kidding me," Cat wasn't in the mood to take that kind of warning seriously without some evidence to back it up. Therefore she advanced on Tyriel and leered at him rather purposefully. Crystal really wished that Cat wouldn't try to tempt fate like that, but it was already too late. Tyriel's jaws had already clamped down on the smaller girl's shoulder. Cat immediately leapt back with an audible shriek to put some distance between herself and Tyriel.

"It wasn't a joke," Tyriel broke into a smile that showed off his frightfully strong teeth.

Cat glowered at him, "I can see that, thanks. You bite _hard_."

So far they were off to an excellent start.

* * *

Tyriel had been right when he said Crystal wasn't acting like herself. After that strange dream she'd had during the afternoon she had a fairly good idea of what was causing it too. It was something she had unwittingly been carrying around with her for a considerable length of time when she realized just how much of a hold it seemed to have over her. With that in mind she decided that it was something that needed to be dealt with before it really got out of hand and that she was probably going to have to be the one to do it since it was unlikely anyone else would be able to figure out how.

She left the living accommodations that had been provided to her and her friends just as soon as she was positive that the other two were asleep which was already well after dark. Taking Taki with her she stopped just long enough to let the other two nature spirits in the room that she would be back as soon as possible. Fortunately for her the coyote spirit with no tail appropriately named No Tail that had accompanied Tyriel and the wolf-fox hybrid spirit named Kirda that acted as Cat's partner weren't especially concerned by whatever Crystal was up to. Since Crystal had spent the better part of the afternoon unconscious it seemed perfectly reasonable that she wouldn't be able to sleep and probably wanted to go out to explore. Of course that wasn't really what she had in mind, but it would make for a good cover story.

Little did she know how the rest of the night would actually play out.

* * *

When she believed she had gotten far enough away from the Patch Village to a sufficiently isolated region in the middle of the desert where there wouldn't be any other shamans or innocent bystanders to get in the way, Crystal braced herself for what was about to happen. While it was true that she was in the habit of suppressing her powers to avoid getting carried away in a fight, but it was evident now that she had inadvertently created some kind of self-destructive fail-safe to keep herself in check. It was the most literal example of being your own worst enemy she could think of, but then even she didn't fully appreciate the danger of the situation given that what she was about to face would be a monster of her own making. If ever she had gotten carried away it was when she was dreaming up villains for the games back on the playground.

"Taki," Crystal paused briefly, "I hope you don't mind helping me out with this. If we're going to survive the next stage of the tournament, then I need to be able to access my full potential. I need to stop letting myself be held back by my own foolish inhibitions about what I'm capable of."

The waterfall spirit in the shape of a small black cat was already prepared for a fight, "Do whatever you have to do. I'll back you up 100 percent."

"Alright," Crystal started again, "then I guess it's time to finish this game."

The creature that filled the space in front of them could have easily been mistaken for a small mountain. It was an enormous dragon with glistening scales that shimmered in the moonlight like volcanic glass. A pair of skeletal, wing-like appendages protruded from the shoulder joints of the dragon's forelegs with a smaller pair protruding from the hip joints of its hind legs. Its knee and elbow joints were each equipped with particularly jagged looking bony spikes. Its dual-pronged tail ended in another pair of sharp, bony spikes. More frightening still was that the head was all skull with a row of large spikes curving upward from where the base of the skull connected to the neck and a single spike protruding from the end of the snout. The sockets where the eyes should have been were filled with an eerie crimson glow. The worst part, however, was that Crystal could easily recognize this horrible monstrosity from her not so distant childhood. It was something she had devised for her little games specifically to terrify herself.

However, even if this abomination might have frightened her when she was ten years old, it was a whole lot less intimidating to her in the present except for the fact that when she had first envisioned this awful thing it had only been as a harmless manifestation when she was unaware of her powers. The creature standing before her on the other hand was quite real, at least as far as she was concerned, and most likely extremely dangerous. And it was probably about to try to kill her.

"Just one thing before we get started here," Taki spoke up. "Why the heck would you imagine something like that?!"

"It's actually rather appropriate," Crystal responded absently. She was already trying to find a weakness they might be able to exploit to end this quickly. After all, whenever she created a monster that had to be defeated she always made sure to give them some kind of weak point that would eventually be revealed to resolve the crisis. Of course that meant she was going to have to remember the weakness she had chosen for this particular monster in the first place.

The demonic dragon let out a rather disturbing sound that was essentially an amplified version of the moaning and wailing that typically accompanies hordes of undead in old movies and video games. It was a truly unpleasant roar to have to listen to and the fact that it was accompanied by a steady exhalation of white-hot flames was not at all encouraging. Crystal quickly engaged her Oversoul and countered the fiery attack with an invisible barrier to give herself time to move out of the way. Even as she took evasive action Crystal just narrowly avoided being struck down by a pair of crimson beams that had shot down from above which was about when she remembered she'd apparently given this thing laser vision. She was really starting to hate herself for this.

_My usual tactics aren't going to work here. _Crystal thought as her eyes fell on the dragon-hilted katana she had instinctively shaped her Oversoul into. _I need to make my Oversoul stronger so that I can launch a counterattack._ She closed her eyes and recalled the dragon she had seen in her dream. _I'm not a weakling. I have more than enough furyoku. I'm not going to die here. Think. What are my options?_ And then it hit her. She knew why she couldn't remember the demonic dragon's weak point because it didn't have a specific weak point except that it had a power limit. She just had to get up the nerve to effectively overpower it. Crystal opened her eyes.

It happened gradually. The dragon-hilted katana began to glow from the additional furyoku Crystal had begun pumping into it and fell from her hand as it began to expand in size in front of her while taking on a completely different shape. Standing at roughly fifteen feet in height her Oversoul assumed the form of the bipedal dragon Crystal had encountered in her dream, a hypothetical reflection of her own soul. The main body was covered in scales with a midnight blue sheen while the wings protruding from its shoulder-blades were metallic silver. Crystal knew immediately that this was a much more appropriate form for her Oversoul. She could sense the flow of her energy and knew this would work. There was no reason why she shouldn't win this fight.

Crystal had been so focused on charging up her Oversoul that she hadn't noticed the clouds that had been gathering in the sky until the rain started pouring down accompanied by the sound of thunder. The demonic dragon was already writhing in pain as it was simultaneously struck by lightning and pelted with hail. Crystal correctly assumed that Taki was the one responsible for the abrupt change in weather. The demonic dragon spread its mighty jaws to unleash another breath of white-hot fire in retaliation, but it made no difference. The dragon that now represented Crystal's Oversoul braced itself against the damp ground in preparation to unleash its own breath weapon. A beam of silver tinted blue light shot out from the dragon's mouth and pierced straight through the white fire of the demonic dragon's breath to pulverize the monster from the inside. In a matter of minutes the whole mountain-sized dragon had dissolved into scattered, glowing fragments before it finally vanished entirely.

Crystal fell to her knees as she disengaged her Oversoul. Talk about intense.

"And just how long have you been hiding all that energy?" Taki demanded having once returned to the form of a small black kitten as she strolled over to the human girl. "I thought we were done for."

Crystal grinned sheepishly, "Well obviously I couldn't have created something more powerful than myself. It just took me a few minutes to remember that."

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Taki stated plainly. "Why have you been holding back all this time?"

"Because I was afraid of what I'm capable of," Crystal answered easily. "However, this power is our best shot at surviving this tournament so I might as well get used to it."

Taki sighed heavily, "You really are insane."

"Some people call it creative genius," Crystal countered.

No longer under the guidance of the waterfall spirit the clouds had ceased the onslaught of water, ice and lightning to settle into a more tolerable drizzle. Nevertheless, Crystal was already soaking wet. That was about when she noticed Spirit of Fire coming from the direction of the Patch Village she had left behind just a few short hours ago.

It was Crystal's turn to sigh heavily, "I should have known we were being watched."

* * *

"Don't tell me you were just passing by," Crystal stated as soon as Spirit of Fire touched down with Hao standing on its outstretched hand. She figured the only reason he was by himself at this hour was because his usual little tagalong, Opacho, was already asleep.

"You've got me," Hao simply looked amused so it was impossible to know what his actual motivation was. "It looked like you were up to something interesting so I thought I might watch."

_Oh yes, I suppose the prospect of watching me almost vaporize myself must have been very interesting. My friends are going to kill me when they find out about this._ At that point Crystal gave up on her internal monologue, "And yes, I remember that you can read my mind. I'm an idiot for doing this alone, but you've got to admit that was quite a performance." By the end of that statement she was laughing and seemed to be strangely happy. "I haven't had that much fun in years."

Taki stared incredulously at her, "Do you enjoy putting your life in danger?"

"No," Crystal responded hurriedly, "but I do enjoy the challenge of getting myself out of it."

Taki a brought a paw up to her forehead, her equivalent of a facepalm, and hopped up onto the girl's shoulder. Then she hissed into Crystal's ear, "I said it before and I'll say it again. You are insane."

"So," Hao was actually somewhat amused by the fact that the pair seemed to be paying very little attention to him, "would you like a lift back to the Patch Village or would you rather walk?"

Crystal seemed to give it some consideration. _If he's nice enough to ask, then I don't see why not._

"Count me in," Crystal had already made her decision. It wasn't like she needed to give it much thought after that.

"You're starting to sound like you did when I first met you," Hao noted rather offhandedly.

Crystal nodded, "That was kind of the point of this. I'm kind of useless when I'm not myself."

* * *

Crystal immediately decided that the view from her new found vantage point riding along with Hao on the Spirit of Fire was rather impressive. This was true to the extent that she didn't seem to be paying as much attention to the distance between herself and the ground below as she was to how neat some of the scattered landmarks looked from above even amidst the shadows cast by the clouds. Crystal still wasn't certain whether Taki was the one responsible for dragging in that huge storm or whether she had summoned it subconsciously. It was certainly something she was likely to do under pressure, but then again it was probably the combination of the two of them that actually made it happen.

"You do realize that if you fall you shouldn't expect me to catch you, right?" Hao's voice held only the slightest hint of actual menace, but it was enough to get Crystal's attention.

Crystal stopped leaning precariously to see what was beneath them and decided she might as well calm down. Instead she looked ahead to where they were rapidly approaching the Patch Village.

"I could get used to this," she had to admit.

"And yet you still refuse to join me," Hao noted in amusement. Crystal knew that he already knew her reason for that, but she decided she might as well humor him.

"That's because eliminating humanity isn't in my job description," she reminded him. She went quiet for a little while, but knowing quite well it was impossible to keep her thoughts to herself she finally added, "It's kind of a shame because I don't really mind being around you like this. Maybe I'm a little misguided, but I don't believe you're really as bad as you let on." There was another brief pause before she decided to finish by saying, "Of course I still don't approve of your plan so there's no way I would help you carry it out. Sorry, but that just wouldn't be my style."

"You really are a strange one," Hao remained amused. After all, he wasn't the sort of person to become bitter over something so trivial. He could afford to respect Crystal's decision. For the time being anyway.

* * *

After arriving back in the Patch Village and briefly informing Hao that she still didn't approve of his plan to eliminate all humans Crystal returned to the living accommodations that had been supplied to her by the Patch Tribe. She was more than just a little surprised when she found Cat and Tyriel were awake when she got inside.

"Where did you go?" Cat demanded sounding angry. The anger faded when it seemed register on her what that reddish glow outside the window had been just a moment ago. "Wait, you were alone with Hao? Out under the stars? That's like a date!"

Crystal facepalmed, "It was nothing like a date. Besides, it was raining so I couldn't even see the stars."

"But you _were_ alone with Hao," Cat persisted.

Tyriel simply enjoyed watching the interrogation and thankfully, as far as Crystal was concerned, kept his mouth shut.

"I honestly don't see how that's relevant," Crystal responded after letting the silence hang for several long seconds. She paused recalling that she was still soaking wet, took a moment to raise the air temperature around her to dry herself off and stalked off toward the bed she had occupied most of the afternoon. "I'm going to sleep."

"So it _was_ a date!" Cat declared in an annoyingly persistent manner. This time Crystal just decided to ignore her. Hopefully she would lose interest in the subject after a little while. It wouldn't be until much later on that she would learn just how wrong she was about that.

**To Be Continued...**


	7. Miscellaneous Part 3

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

Author's Notes: Blaze decided to remind me that based on my estimations about the location of the Patch Village it would be in the general vicinity of the then accessible and later closed down Hot Creek in the geographically unstable region surrounding Mammoth Mountain. Put simply, it involves hot springs in what is essentially a river that used to serve as one of favorite stops when my dad used to take me and my brother camping in the mountains on a semi-annual basis. Specifically, to my knowledge it has been closed down since 2005 which meant that when Blaze and I requested to pay a visit to place during a trip in 2007 we couldn't actually take advantage of it, but I still remember my past experiences there pretty vividly. And it would have certainly been accessible to the public during the time frame of the Shaman Fight. That's where this little number comes in.

* * *

Miscellaneous Part 3 - Improvised Specialization

It started innocently enough. Crystal had been contemplating things that could be done in preparation for the next stage of the Shaman Fight when an idea struck her. In her mind it actually seemed like a pretty good idea too. So one thing led to another and she decided to consult Taki about it.

"You've got the memories of water, right?" Crystal still didn't fully comprehend what that actually meant, but she knew it had something to do with the way all the water on the planet has essentially been in every location at some point during the history of the planet for one reason or another. This meant that unlike Crystal, Taki had an impeccable sense of direction.

"That's right," the waterfall spirit cleverly disguised in the shape of a small black kitten responded in a tone that suggested quite strongly at the fact that she knew the human girl was up to something. "What is it that you want to know?"

Crystal grinned sheepishly, "I was wondering if you could get us to Hot Creek since I'm pretty sure it's only a couple of hours away from where we are now."

"That doesn't sound like the sort of place you would use for training," Taki noted.

Crystal nodded, "I decided it might be a good idea to just take a day off to relax and I can't think of a more perfect place for it than that."

"Well," Taki started, "I guess if that's what you want to do, then it will probably be for the best. Sure, alright, I'll take you."

* * *

True to its name, Hot Creek was a stretch of river weaving between some mountains where vents punched through heating the water at certain locations. The moving water was still fairly cold, but once you found a good spot it was a comfortable place to just kick back and relax. And in some places the river itself was deep enough to actually swim around in if you didn't mind fighting the current a little to get back to where you started. Of course the vents also caused the area surrounding the river to have the distinct scent of sulfur which took some getting used to. Tyriel definitely wasn't enjoying the smell.

Usually it was easy to tell where the good spots along the river were because of the number of people that would congregate at those locations, but given that Crystal was with two other unsupervised teenagers and a trio of nature spirits that most people couldn't actually see would most likely have drawn unwanted attention to their little group she decided to have Taki find them a more secluded spot where they wouldn't have to explain themselves to the regular tourists. It was a rather nice spot.

Once they had been assured that the water temperature was safe Crystal was easily the first one to peel off her clothes to reveal a navy blue one-piece swimsuit that had been concealed underneath. She quickly took to the water so that she could enjoy a nice long soak. Cat didn't necessarily share Crystal's enthusiasm for hot springs, but she certainly wasn't against going swimming and even Tyriel grudgingly took to the water on the grounds that at least while he was submerged he would be able to ignore the sulfur smell.

Eventually Cat and Tyriel both decided that they'd had enough. Crystal, not wanting leave just yet, decided that she would catch up with them in a few minutes.

* * *

Crystal tilted her head back to look up at the sky in an attempt to work up the resolve to head back to the Patch Village even though she would have much rather remained at the Hot Creek at least a little while longer. It wasn't that her friends couldn't find their own way back so much as it was the fact that she would have felt bad about it since going there had been her idea in the first place. That was when she noticed a strangely familiar silhouette on the edge of her field of vision. As it got closer she knew quite well that it was Spirit of Fire. What she couldn't figure out was why it was there. Despite this she wasn't at all surprised to see Hao wearing a pair of flame patterned swim trunks accompanied by his group of female followers.

Crystal glanced at Taki, "You don't think he followed us here, do you?"

"I wouldn't rule out the possibility," the waterfall spirit answered absently. She was a little preoccupied with attempting to herd the tiny fish that inhabited the river. If not for the fact that she was standing on the surface of the water while doing so she would have seemed like a fairly ordinary small black kitten.

Seeing that Taki wasn't going to be much help with the matter Crystal returned her attention to Hao, Opacho and the other three girls that she usually saw in Hao's company.

"I somehow doubt it's just a coincidence that we decided to come here on the same day," she felt like she was walking directly into some kind of cleverly devised trap by engaging them in a conversation like this.

It didn't really help that Hao just sounded amused when he responded by saying, "It's actually rather interesting that you seem to know about so many places like this. Clearly you've been here before."

"You could say that," Crystal replied as she sank down to her shoulders in the moving water. She wasn't really sure what to think about the situation, but she had a pretty good idea that she was going to be a bit slower about catching up to Cat and Tyriel than she had originally intended. _I guess I should let them know I'm going to be late._

An instant later a bubble emerged from the surface of the water and assumed the shape of a small prismatic dragon with a pair of butterfly wings. There were times when Crystal questioned her mental imagery and this definitely one of them, but at least this would serve as a sufficient way to deliver the message to her friends. The small butterfly-winged dragon fluttered off in the direction that Cat and Tyriel had departed in several moments prior to Hao's arrival.

"You certainly have interesting taste in familiars," Hao commented once the shikigami was out of sight.

"So I've got an affinity for dragons," Crystal sounded indignant, "big deal." Then she dunked her head under the water and tried to pretend like she was the only one there. Of course she couldn't hold her breath for very long so it wasn't like she was going to have much luck with that.

* * *

"What does she mean 'Sorry, I'll catch up with you later'? I'm going back there to find out what the hold up is," Cat was quick to make the assumption that there was something suspicious about the message she and Tyriel had received from Crystal.

"It isn't really any of our business, is it?" Tyriel was also curious, but since it wasn't a distress signal it hardly seemed like it warranted investigation. Then again, it wasn't as if they had anything better to do anyway.

"I'm going to make it my business," Cat decided leaving it up to Tyriel to determine for himself what he was going to do as she started marching back in the direction of the Hot Creek. Tyriel shrugged and followed after her a moment later.

* * *

"And just what are _you_ doing here?" Cat demanded when she reached the spot where she had left Crystal. Seeing Hao and several of his followers there after she and Tyriel had left Crystal there alone raised all kinds of questions that she would have liked to have answered.

"That's what _we_ should be asking _you_!" was the immediate response that she received from the energetic girl with the orange hair otherwise known to those assembled there as Macchi.

Crystal had relocated herself to a perch on a boulder overlooking the water, "Except for the fact that we were here first."

"No one asked you," Macchi persisted. She seemed intent on dragging Cat down into the water with her. "Anyway, since you're here, you might as well join us." Considering that Cat was putting up quite a fight it looked like it could go either way.

Crystal definitely didn't trust the predatory glint that came to Tyriel's eyes when he looked at Opacho. She sighed and looked up at the sky again, "At least I guess this means we'll be staying a little while longer."

Despite the unusual crowd that had gathered it was still a nice place and Crystal rather liked being there.

* * *

So they ended up returning to Patch Village quite a bit later than they had been planning on, but in retrospect Crystal decided that despite herself the afternoon had turned out to be a lot more fun. She might have been feeling a little uneasy at first, but that was only because she was trying to read too much into it. After all, not everything requires an explanation. Crystal was certainly in a much more cheerful mood during the flight back to the Patch Village when she was seated between the claws of the outstretched hand of her dragon-shaped Oversoul.

"It looks like you're finally starting to enjoy yourself again," Tyriel was inclined to call her on it.

"I had a good time today," Crystal admitted with a hint of a smile. "Hopefully there will be time for more days like this."

**To Be Continued...**


	8. Miscellaneous Part 4

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

Author's Notes: Whereas the past few segments of the story so far have taken place during the two month gap between arriving at Patch Village and transitioning to the uncharted island of Tokyo for the first round of the Shaman Fight in Tokyo, this next one is going to be set around chapter 263 of the manga following the events of the Yoh and Hao team up in the confrontation on the beach prior to the participants for the final round of the tournament being relocated to the sunken continent of Mu.

* * *

Miscellaneous Part 4 -- Moving On

Crystal listened attentively to the sound of the waves crashing against the sand. She was sprawled out on the beach with her arms propped behind her head staring up at the sky in close proximity to a halfway completed sand castle and the moat that was meant to accompany it. It was clearly apparent that she must have lost interest in the project before she was able to finish, but she wasn't going to let that bother her. At this point she was finding the task of picking out the shapes of the scattered clouds in the sky to be much more rewarding.

Taki was a little ways off harassing a flock of seagulls.

"So this is where you disappeared to," Tyriel approached from just outside of Crystal's field of vision. "The world could end as we know it in the next few days and you're relaxing on the beach. Did I miss anything?"

"Not really," Crystal answered rather offhandedly. She was in one of her contemplative moods so she wasn't really giving a whole lot of thought to what was happening around her. This wasn't to say that she hadn't been thinking about it so much as to say that she had already come to terms with it and was willing to accept it at face value.

"So that's it then, is it?" Tyriel was close enough now that he was leaning over her. "You won't step in to try to fix things. You'd rather just sit back and watch, is that it?"

"This isn't our battle Tyriel," Crystal reminded him. "When things got too dangerous we withdrew from the tournament. What happens next will be determined by those who were prepared to move on even if it might cost them their own lives. There's nothing I can do to change that so I'd rather not worry myself about it."

She sat up and glanced around until she found a smooth, flat rock near her left hand. She picked it up and set about getting on her feet to move closer to the edge of the water. With practiced precision she tossed the stone into the waves causing it to skip across the surface of the water several times before finally sinking into the depths beneath the waves. She searched around her for another adequately proportioned rock to repeat the process a second time managing to tack on an extra skip before it also submitted to the force of gravity and its weight caused it to plummet to the bottom.

After that Crystal simply sat down and looked out to the horizon.

"If the world is going to end as we know it in the next few days, then I at least want to take the time to enjoy it." She paused and tilted her head to look back at Tyriel, "I don't think that's going to happen though. I have a feeling that something good is going to come out of this."

Tyriel simply watched her for several long seconds. He was trying to understand what she meant by saying that, but in the end he couldn't completely decipher what she was thinking.

"You certainly picked a strange time to put so much faith in that intuition of yours," he noted after allowing Crystal's words some time to sink in. He went silent again for a little while longer before adding, "You must really trust that guy."

Crystal shrugged, "I guess you could put it like that. I just don't think of him as a monster. As far as I'm concerned he's just another kid reaching out to everyone in the only way he knows how. He's been waiting a long time for someone to be able to save him from himself. This whole thing has been a desperate cry for help. And I'm fairly certain that Yoh is the one that can make it happen because that's what Hao wants." She offered Tyriel a lopsided grin before redirecting her gaze to the far away horizon, "We can only help someone if they let us. I'm not the one who can make a difference in this case. I think there's a part of me that's known that all along, but it took until now for me to come to terms with it."

"Why don't you go tell him how you feel then?" Tyriel continued prying.

Crystal moved away from the water's edge and returned to the spot she had been lounging in when Tyriel had found her. She collapsed onto the sand again and stared off into the sky.

"If he's been listening, then he probably already knows."

Tyriel decided to leave Crystal to her own devices. It was perfectly clear from her attitude on the matter that Crystal had already made up her mind about all this.

* * *

Not long after that Crystal was on her feet again. This time she was walking in the direction of the island's harbor.

"And just where do you think you're going all of the sudden?" This time it was apparently Taki's turn to interrogate her as the waterfall spirit in the shape of a small black kitten made herself at home perching on the girl's shoulder.

"It won't be long now until the Patch Submarine sets off with the participants for the final round of the Shaman Fight," Crystal answered automatically. "We might as well see them off."

"Then wouldn't it be faster to fly?" Taki recommended.

Crystal stopped walking, "You make an excellent point. Shall we get moving then?"

"Sure," Taki practically beamed at her. It was always more fun working with Crystal when she was in a good mood. "Ready when you are."

Crystal had long since discovered that it was far more practical and efficient to put herself at the heart of her dragon-shaped Oversoul which had gradually caused the whole thing to shrink down to become more sleek and aerodynamic. There was no doubt that she would be cutting across the sky to the island's harbor in practically no time now. Just because she was no longer going to be a contender in the Shaman Fight didn't mean she couldn't still use her powers when it suited her and it wasn't as if she could have thought of a better use for them than this. If anything, she had truly become a dragon well suited to tearing through the sky.

"Alright then," Crystal stated as she propelled her dragon Oversoul off the ground. "Let's fly!"

**Miscellaneous -- End**


	9. Resolution Part 1

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

Author's Notes: With this installment I'm finally getting into Shaman King Kang Zeng Bang territory so all bets are off. While the ideas expressed here were initially inspired by the events of manga chapter 297 and a conversation with Slade while I was out in California, they have since been largely reinforced by the events of manga chapter 298. With that in mind and with the manga scanlations very nearly caught up with the official reprint finale it's time for me to take you all on one more philosophical mind trip because I can. In case the chapter numbers weren't enough of an indicator, there are definitely going to be spoilers ahead.

* * *

Resolution Part 1 -- Your Own Self Image

_I guess that's it then._

_Everyone's dead now._

_I suppose it isn't so bad._

_Still, I'd like it more if things were different._

Crystal looked out across the grass field that stretched to the base of a mountain range in the distance with only a narrow river to obstruct its path. The community she had been welcomed into within the Great Spirit seemed strangely empty. Of course that might just have been because it was fairly new. After she spent several minutes observing the landscape before her Crystal was of the distinct impression that she had been there before. It definitely felt familiar.

"I guess it makes sense," she mused to herself. "After all, I did give life to a place just like this."

She was dressed differently. She was wearing a blue tunic top and a darker blue hooded cape. And even though she was still wearing blue jeans there was now a sword belt strapped around here waist. This also seemed strangely familiar.

That was about when she first noticed the large black wolf. That meant she wasn't the only one there. The wolf in question seemed to pause for just a moment before recognition dawned on him and he was compelled to reveal his true identity. The fact that it was Tyriel seemed strangely unsurprising.

"So this is what it all comes down to," Tyriel's voice emanated from the wickedly fanged jaws of the wolf.

Crystal shrugged, "I'm not really fond of paradise. To be honest the idea of a perfect world always kind of rubbed me the wrong way."

"And yet here you are," Tyriel reminded her. "One moment you look like a dragon and the next you're back to being your regular little human self again."

"I happen to like this form," Crystal responded. "Besides, it's pretty obvious that you must see yourself as a wolf since you still look like one. That's a pretty obvious self image coming from you."

Tyriel snorted indignantly, but he didn't try to deny it.

Both of them remained silent for several long moments. Then Tyriel spoke up again.

"I hope it hasn't escaped you that your boyfriend is an idiot."

"And a jerk," Crystal finished for him. "I believe we already had that conversation. And he's not my boyfriend."

"But you still like him," Tyriel persisted.

"You've made a fairly good show of being a jackass yourself on occasion," Crystal countered. "That hasn't stopped me from liking you either."

"At least I've been decent enough not to kill everyone," Tyriel remarked. "You can't rightfully tell me that you approve of what he's doing at the moment."

Crystal sat down cross-legged on the grass. She stared off into the sky for a moment to contemplate her answer and in the process determined that she wasn't going to stop to question the fact that there appeared to be silhouettes for no fewer than two moons nestled amongst the clouds. Considering her strong disregard for normality it probably wasn't important anyway.

"I don't like it," she started finally, "but I can't really blame him for it. I mean, I don't hate humanity, but I can't say I approve of the way people have become conditioned to treat each other. All of that fear and distrust is really just kind of depressing. It's important to have friends you can count on. You know me. I've been saying that for years even though most of my peers have been holding that against me. It doesn't matter what kind of person you are. Everybody needs for someone to care. I doubt becoming omniscient and omnipotent can really change that. Hao just doesn't want to feel lonely anymore."

She stopped to look up at the sky again making a rather failed attempt to conceal a smile.

"And you know what else?" Crystal started again. "There's still time for Yoh and his friends to change his mind about this. There's still a whole world out there. It doesn't have to end like this."

Tyriel, apparently satisfied with Crystal's explanation, padded over and settled on his haunches. He almost appeared to be grinning when he spoke again, but his newly canine features made it rather difficult to tell.

"You really are one of the strangest humans I've ever met."

Crystal chuckled, "That makes two of us."

She stood up and dusted herself off. There probably wasn't any point in doing so, but being technically disembodied wasn't about to stop her now.

"We should probably go assemble the rest of our team," Crystal suggested. "I would imagine that getting lost in a place like this could prove to be rather interesting whether we actually find them or not."

Tyriel rolled his eyes at her, "You haven't changed one bit."

**To Be Continued...**


	10. Resolution Part 2

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

Author's Notes: Now the real fun begins.

* * *

Resolution Part 2 -- What Dreams Are Made Of

"So," the large black wolf that now represented Tyriel turned to Crystal, "how exactly do you propose that we find Cat?"

"That's a good question," Crystal admitted. Although she hadn't really been thinking that far ahead she already had some idea about what needed to be done. For one thing, it didn't really make sense that the community they had found themselves in was apparently empty. The conclusion she had drawn from this was that it wasn't really empty and that there was something that she had up until that point been missing. After briefly recalling something from her childhood the solution seemed obvious.

"I suppose the first step to finding our friends is to determine how to navigate through this place properly," she continued after a brief pause. "And I think I already know the answer to that."

"So are we going to stand around here all day or were you planning on giving me a demonstration?" Tyriel watched the girl expectantly.

"Just watch," Crystal spoke as she drew the short sword from the scabbard at her waist. It seemed like a perfectly ordinary and rather flimsy little sword. At least, it seemed normal until she started unscrewing the hilt from the blade to reveal what looked to be a bubble wand. By that point she was grinning much too widely for this to have been just a mere coincidence. "Remember all of those dreams we've talked about that we thought were taking place in the same location? Well, I think that's because we've both been here before." She blew into the soapy solution contained in the shaft of the bubble wand and watched as the newly formed bubbles spread around them. She screwed the bubble wand back into the blade of the sword and strapped it to her waist again. "And now the way is open."

The landscape which had previously been totally devoid of anything that could be perceived as having sentience had become littered with a fascinating array of creatures both fantastic and ordinary. There were animals that would have been perfectly acceptable to find in the modern world. Then there were the dinosaurs including herds of relatively harmless plant eating and packs of potentially dangerous predatory varieties. The mountain range that had been looming in the distance suddenly unfurled a pair of enormous wings and took to the sky revealing its true identity as a seemingly ancient, exceptionally rugged green dragon. Beyond where the great dragon had been resting was what looked to be a city with wildly inconsistent architecture that had clearly been borrowed from various parts of human society past, present, and numerous interpretations of the science fiction future.

Tyriel cast a glance at Crystal, "I'm sure you must be at least partly responsible for creating this place."

"Technically speaking it was already here," Crystal responded. "I just spruced things up a bit."

* * *

It was probably based on some kind of optical illusion, but the city turned out to be significantly closer than it had at first appeared to the two of them. As they got closer it became apparent that the outskirts of the city were densely populated by a seemingly endless number of deteriorating upright corpses that seemed to be moving toward them. Of course there would be zombies in a place like this.

"The next time you come up with a game like this I think you should give some consideration to actually putting a limit on the number of enemies you generate," Tyriel suggested under his breath.

"Relax," Crystal started uncertainly, "I don't think they're going to hurt us. After all, that was just a game. Despite what they might look like these are all just nature spirits from the canyon that used to play with us."

One of the better put together zombies stepped forward and waved in greeting before casually popping his jaw into place. By that point any uncertainty Crystal might have had quickly evaporated. They were, as she had predicted, totally harmless.

"It's been a long time," the not entirely unattractive zombie spoke up now that he had gotten his mouth to start functioning normally. There was a slight pause before he continued and his next words caused Tyriel to reel with laughter, "Welcome back Princess."

Crystal brought at palm to her forehead, "I thought that was part of a different game."

"I think in this area it's actually meant literally," Tyriel snorted in amusement.

"I'm going to assume that was your idea," Crystal scowled at him.

"Perhaps," Tyriel didn't even make an attempt to conceal his conspiratorial nature, "but you must admit it was funny."

"We'll discuss this later," Crystal responded as she regained her composure. She redirected her attention to the zombie who she knew quite well wasn't technically at fault for the whole misunderstanding although with Tyriel involved it was probably at least somewhat deliberate. "We still have some friends we would like to be able to find. Could you possibly direct us to where ever it is Razuko is staying around here?"

"He is awaiting your arrival at the castle," the zombie answered helpfully.

"Thanks," Crystal replied as she started toward the old fashioned stone tower in the distance. "We'll be on our way then."

* * *

Once they arrived at the top of the tower by way of a spiral staircase down a wide corridor from the entrance to the castle they were met with the figure to a roughly seventeen year old youth with shocking electric blue hair. It was long enough for his bangs to form a number of spiky sections while generally smoothing out toward the back to cover the base of his neck. His eyes were an even darker shade of blue, but the pupils were slitted which made it fairly clear that he wasn't technically human. He was also dressed in a tanktop composed of fishnet and a pair of faded blue jeans. His bare feet revealed that each of his toes was actually clawed further emphasizing that he wasn't actually human despite his overall appearance.

"I've been expecting you," he spoke in a soft, respectful tone. "Although, I suppose you won't be staying long."

Crystal nodded, "I'm afraid we're in a bit of a hurry."

"Then I should be able to get you pointed in the right direction," Razuko confirmed, "but you'll have to get to where ever you're trying to go by your own power."

"That's fine with us," Crystal paused and glanced over her shoulder at the large black wolf that had accompanied her, "isn't that right Tyriel?"

Tyriel did his best impression of a shrug, "Do what you like. It isn't like you'll be getting rid of me anytime soon if that's what you're concerned about."

**To Be Continued...**


	11. Resolution Part 3

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. Digimon and its characters are the property of their original creators, not that any of those characters will be appearing here, but that hasn't prevented the fandom from having a strong influence on what is happening here. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

Author's Notes: I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist.

* * *

Resolution Part 3 -- One Journey Ends, Another Begins

"So we're going to have to reach the Shaman King's society by our own power," Crystal was still contemplating what she and Tyriel had learned from Razuko. Apparently there had been a train or something, but that wasn't going to do them a whole lot of good if they had already missed it. "How are we supposed to get there when I haven't even figured out where the boundary of our own society is supposed to be?"

"I can handle that," a familiar voice came from an unfamiliar source. Well, actually, the form was definitely familiar, but it wasn't the usual black kitten that she would have associated with Taki. In fact, the figure that had entered the room looked like a small, bipedal black dragon. A dragon with emerald eyes, silver claws distributed between the digits of three-toed feet and five-fingered hands, a small pair of golden wings and a lightning bolt pattern of silver and golden stripes. The form was only familiar to Crystal because she had invented it.

"Wait," Crystal started almost incredulously. "You turned yourself into a digimon?"

"Well," the dragon that sounded identical to Taki started again, "in a manner of speaking. I kind of figured this form would be appropriate considering all the capabilities you designed for it. Especially when you have these to work with." She held out two objects, a D-Terminal with a silver and white colored D3 model digivice, to Crystal. "You do remember how to use them, don't you?"

Tyriel brought one of his large forepaws to his forehead, "You have got to be kidding me."

"Actually," Crystal grinned as she took the two objects in her hands, "I've always wanted to do this." She flipped open the display on the D-Terminal and held the digivice so that the screen illuminated Taki who had taken the form of her fan-created partner digimon, Zapmon, which was perfect for just such an occasion. "Digimental Up!"

Suspiciously familiar Japanese theme music began playing from nowhere in particular. A beam of light transferred between the D-Terminal and the digivice causing a white oblong object sort of like an egg with a metallic spike and a silver symbol in the shape of a shooting star etched into the top of it to emerge from it. The object, known to Crystal and several others as the Digimental of Time and Space, rapidly broke apart and then the pieces began to reassemble themselves around the small dragon that was rapidly transforming into a somewhat larger quadruped. This new form was somewhat more wolf-like as long as you ignored the distinctly reptilian attributes such as the claws and wings. Some of Zapmon's original color scheme was visible through gaps in the white armor and the silver and golden spike in the shape of a bolt of lightning had assembled itself as part of the helmet that had covered the wolf-like dragon's face. The entire process took about thirty seconds and was accompanied by a rather predictable exclamation.

"Zapmon Shinka! Transcendence of Time and Space, Lightningmon!"

Crystal slipped the digivice and D-Terminal into her pockets before climbing onto the newly evolved digimon's back. As far as she was concerned this had to be the coolest Oversoul ever. She was still grinning when she turned to address Tyriel.

"Now we can go anywhere we want within the Great Spirit," she informed him sounding perhaps just a little too cheerful. "Of course you'll have to keep up."

The large black wolf that represented Tyriel simply shrugged, "I suppose the exercise wouldn't hurt."

"Alright," Crystal braced herself. Even though she had given a lot of thought to doing this sort of thing for several years, she had never actually considered what it might actually be like if she ever actually managed it. And now it looked like she was about to find out firsthand. "Let's go!"

It was still strange hearing Taki's voice coming from a digimon, but she certainly seemed to be fitting into the role quite nicely given the circumstances. The space around them began to distort as she called out, "Time Jump!" In the next instant they were charging down a narrow tunnel that looked as if it had been constructed from the cosmos itself. It was dark for the most part, but all around them were spots of light with occasional clumps that looked like they might have been galaxies. It was likely that was exactly what they were. Seconds later they came skidding to a halt in a space that greatly resembled a white void aside from the fact that Hao had apparently manifested the entire endgame portion of several different video games that involve hurling the cosmos and then some at the protagonists.

"A blackhole?" Crystal was trying not to laugh. "Is that really the best he could come up with? I guess no one ever bothered to tell him that even though it's one of the most powerful instant death spells in practically any combat system it also has a longstanding history of being the most inaccurate."

"I heard that!" Somehow or another Cat had managed to drop in right beside them. "Don't you dare start giving him ideas."

"No," Tyriel chimed in unconcerned over Cat's lack of surprise at his appearance, "I think he looks like he could use the help."

"Actually," Crystal noted, "it looks like the fighting is just about over. Maybe we should just hitch another quick wormhole out of here."

"We went to the trouble of getting you here and you don't even want to stop to say hello to your boyfriend?" Taki made a good show of sounding almost hurt. The snickering kind of ruined the effect though.

Crystal brought a palm to her forehead, "Look. He's not my boyfriend. I don't know why you guys keep saying stuff like that. Besides, it looks to me like he's all loved out at the moment. After all this he could probably use a break." She paused and added, "It isn't like our services are needed here anyway."

* * *

When Crystal regained consciousness a short time later she was once again on the beach of the uncharted island of Tokyo both confused and very much alive from the looks of it. Apparently Yoh and his friends had been able to reach some kind of an understanding with Hao which meant that for the time being humanity would be permitted to live a little while longer. As far as Crystal was concerned that meant that all that was left was to return home. Now that the Shaman Fight was technically over it was probably a good time to think about getting on with her life. There were still some things that were going to take some getting used to.

"Why the hell are you still a wolf?!"

Tyriel shrugged, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"You realize I'm going to have to be the one explain this to your family, right?" Crystal already sounded exasperated. So much for the prospect of getting on with a pseudo-normal existence.

**To Be Continued...**


	12. Resolution Part 4

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

* * *

Resolution Part 4 -- Looking Back, Moving Forward

When it was all over it was almost like the whole thing was just some kind of crazy dream. For Crystal that would have been normal, but this time she knew it had been real. It took a little while to clear things up back home, especially in regard to Tyriel opting to remain a wolf spirit, but even that eventually drifted into the past. Crystal still had a lot of growing up to do and there was still so much she wanted to learn. For a long time she thought that would be enough. That would have been all well and good, but then this wouldn't be much of a story, now would it?

* * *

"I take it you didn't come here just to reminisce," Taki wasn't surprised to see Crystal visiting the waterfall. It was actually something she did with some regularity. Something about it being a spiritual hot spot and making her feel better. This time, however, she seemed to be in a fairly good mood already which was rather unusual. After all, there was another reason Crystal kept on coming back. This was the first place she had met Hao. Even if she refused to admit it to herself, it was kind of obvious that she missed him. Despite all the trouble he had caused back then it wasn't like Crystal had ever actually gotten over him. It was even harder for her because she didn't even realize why she felt so bad about it. The poor child really was pretty clueless when it came to matters of the heart.

"Actually," Crystal started, "I'm thinking of going on a trip." She might have been a bit older, but she hadn't really changed all that much over the years. And it was still fairly easy to see that she was up to something. "I was kind of hoping you wouldn't mind tagging along." She paused for several long seconds before continuing hesitantly, "I already talked about it with Cat and we're thinking of paying a visit to Funbari Onsen. I know it's been a long time now, but I kind of figured it might be nice to see some old friends."

"So," Taki considered this. "After all this time you're thinking of going to Japan again. I suppose I could use a vacation. This drought has been terrible lately."

It was unclear whether he was going to be there or not, but it seemed to Taki that this was something that Crystal really did want to do. And it would be good that Cat was going to be there too because she had a good chance of being able to knock some sense into Crystal while they were at it. She definitely needed it.

* * *

So, it turned out once they got there that Hao had apparently been living there for about a year or so. Apparently even though being the Shaman King should have technically been considered a full time job, the actual hours had left him with a desperate need to find his own entertainment. At the very least he actually seemed to be happy and perhaps somewhat less homicidal despite his initial protests.

In any case, Crystal was definitely happy to see him. Unfortunately with the way her mind works it scared the hell out of her when she realized that was actually true. Honestly, it was like she had gotten it into her head that by being happy she was somehow going to make a mess of things. Rest assured if Taki ever figured out who was responsible for giving Crystal an idea like that they were going to live to regret it whether they could see spirits or not. And if Crystal had done this to herself, then there were plenty of qualified individuals that would be able to help Taki thwart Crystal's misguided and self-destructive notions about the nature of reality. It was liable to make her angry, but she was being stupid so she deserved it.

Incidentally, it only took about a week to get through to both of them. They might have been stubborn and defensive about it, but they were also severely outnumbered. No one got killed for meddling so it's probably safe to say that in their own way Crystal and Hao must have been grateful to their tormentors. Just don't push your luck about it.

* * *

"I'm still curious as to why you didn't decide to bring Tyriel along with you," Hao certainly made for excellent company when it came to spending a pleasant afternoon at a cafe. This certainly wasn't going to be a dull topic for discussion.

Crystal shrugged over her cup of hot chocolate, "Ever since he turned himself into a wolf spirit he's gotten kind of difficult to track down when he's off playing in the hills with the rest of his pack. I guess they don't really mind that he's a spirit since that world isn't quite so invisible to them as it is to the vast majority of humans. I don't know. He seems happy enough even if the whole thing still seems kind of weird to me. I figured this was going to be a short visit so there wasn't much of a reason to bother him about it. Of course that was before I somehow ended up moving in. I definitely wasn't expecting that."

"Have you thought about going back for him?" Hao was perhaps a little too amused by this prospect.

"I guess I could," Crystal paused to take a nice long sip of hot chocolate to buy herself some time to think it over. She set the cup back down and continued, "Of course knowing him he probably already found out where I've been and is making his own plans to follow me here."

Crystal shuddered at the thought. She didn't want to hear what she knew Tyriel would have to say if and when he found out about her and Hao. Crystal already had a pretty good idea of what he would be likely to say and it was something along the lines of...

"I suppose it was inevitable that the Shaman King would come back to find himself a queen, isn't that right your majesty?"

It is unclear what precisely set Crystal off after that. It might have been the fact that Tyriel had chosen that precise moment to materialize next to the table at the cafe. Or it might have been the fact that he made a special point of winking at Hao once he had finished delivering the question. It might even have been the intolerable air of smugness that Tyriel was radiating over successfully capturing Crystal by surprise. Or it could have been some combination of these factors that sent Crystal chasing him out the door much to the confusion of the poor young waitress that was blissfully unaware of the large black wolf that had just bolted outside.

"Check please," Hao was unnecessarily calm about all of this.

**Resolution -- End**

**

* * *

**Author's Notes: That's where it ends. There are some other side stories that kind of go along with this that were written in between chapters, but they don't actually fit anywhere into the main sequence. Depending on how well this is received I might think about posting some of them separately in the future, but for now I'm treating this as a trial run. I've been somewhat reluctant to make submissions because so many of my stories involve original characters, but I have some hope that it won't be too much of an issue.


	13. Side Story 1 Crystal Version

Additional Author's Notes: I'm just going to go out on a limb here and assume that no news is good news. Blaze doesn't count since he's one of the people responsible for encouraging me to write stuff like this in the first place. For the record, I like to pretend that my ability to write fluff doesn't exist, but somehow word got out about it and then my friends kept asking me to write it. First I had to determine for myself whether or not there was even the remote possibility that what they were asking for could even be justified. I often worry that it was a little too easy. The fact that I was able to write both sides of this story really didn't help.

* * *

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

Author's Notes: The questions I will be addressing here seem simple enough. When exactly did Crystal and Hao come to terms with their feelings? And how did they actually get to be together? It's a heck of a lot more complicated in my head than it will probably sound once this gets out in the open, but that's just the way these kind of stories tend to work.

* * *

Side Story 01 -- Everyone Can See It, Why Can't You?

It started innocently enough. True to form, when the crisis during the Shaman Fight had been resolved, Crystal had gone back home to get on with her life and go back to school for a regular education. As far as she was concerned there should have been nothing to stop her from enjoying a relatively normal life on her own terms, but then it still seemed like there was something that was missing. Then one day, for no readily apparent reason, she decided she might as well pay a visit to some of the friends she had made during the Shaman Fight. This was how it eventually came to pass that she and Cat would arrive at Funbari Onsen among several other familiar visitors and freeloading house guests.

This was, in itself, not very surprising. Yoh enjoyed the company of his friends and Anna was perfectly willing to tolerate them as long as they were able to make themselves useful. No, the part that surprised Crystal was when she immediately went to hug Hao pretty much on pure impulse. Alright, so he was included as a friend and there was nothing wrong with hugging him, but it was what he said to her that really threw her off.

"I knew you would come back eventually."

This simple statement would inevitably serve to occupy Crystal's thoughts for the better part of the next few days.

* * *

Crystal took to retreating to the area by the river at night to stargaze not really thinking much of it when Hao kept beating her to it at first. There was plenty of room for the both of them and it was perfectly evident to Crystal that Hao would know the best places to stargaze from. On the second night Hao decided to comment on it.

"Why did you pick this spot again?"

"Because I happen to like it here," Crystal answered his inquiry truthfully. "And you know as well as I do that this is one of the best places to watch the stars from."

Hao seemed satisfied with this answer and the rest of the time Crystal spent down by the river that night passed in silence. It wasn't until the third night that Crystal would learn the real reason for Hao's apparent lack of interest in conversation.

* * *

This night started out the same way as the previous two with one major exception. Rather than returning to Funbari Onsen when she started feeling drowsy Crystal simply dozed off where she was. When she woke up a short time later she noticed that Hao was now sitting next to her watching her uncertainly.

"You okay?" Crystal sat up on the grass that grew along the bank of the river and stretched her arms above her head so as to properly wake herself up.

"For the moment," Hao responded looking away slightly. His expression softened, "It's actually you I'm concerned about."

"Huh?" Now Crystal was confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Despite yourself," Hao started, "you always liked me. I'm not sure why you're still trying to hide it."

"Wait, what?" Crystal was a little taken aback. Then she recalled what Hao had said to her when she had first arrived back at Funbari Onsen just a few days ago. "I guess I couldn't really hide it from you even if I wanted to." She turned to look at him, but he was still facing a little away from her so it was difficult for her to read his expression. "So, does that mean you've been waiting for me?"

"Maybe." It was unclear whether or not Hao meant for it to sound so vague. His next words made his own uncertainty more apparent, "I'm not really sure."

"Well you haven't tried to discourage me from coming back here," Crystal mused. "So that must mean you don't really mind my company."

"Don't forget that you're the one that fell asleep," Hao reminded her. "I still don't really understand all this unwarranted trust you have in people like me."

Crystal remained silent for a moment to consider how she was going to respond to that. She leaned back propping her hands against the ground behind her as she looked up at the sky again.

"Is it the fact that I trust you specifically that you can't wrap your mind around?" she asked quietly. When Hao didn't answer she continued, "I don't really get it either. It just feels right for some reason."

"You don't appear to be troubled by that anymore," Hao commented eventually.

"I guess not," Crystal admitted. "I mean, just because I have a history of being able to perceive the emotional atmosphere that surrounds people doesn't mean I really understand what they might actually be feeling. And it certainly hasn't made it any easier for me to fully comprehend my own feelings either. Maybe it's just good to be confused sometimes." With that she fell back onto the grass with her arms spread out on either side of her. She was actually smiling now.

Hao finally looked back at her again, "I guess what I want to know is if you still like me now. After all, a lot has changed."

"Of course I still like you," Crystal was being unusually straightforward about this. "It surprised me that I hadn't realized sooner how much I missed you."

"If that's the case, then why have you been so distant?" By now Hao's curiosity was noticeably mixed with concern.

"With the way the others keep bothering me about it I thought it was obvious," Crystal noted hesitantly.

"I'd rather hear you say it yourself," Hao spoke softly.

Crystal sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. It was one of those things that she found to be difficult to put into words even though she already knew what she was going to say.

"I'm not sure if I should let myself get attached. I don't want to complicate things by being here, but believe me I do want to."

Hao heaved a quiet sigh before he spoke again, "Thank you." He then joined Crystal in sprawling out on the soft grass to look up at the night sky. After a brief moment he reached over and gently took her hand in his. "You should know that I want you to be here too." He sounded happy and he certainly would have looked content to an outside observer.

Of course the only evidence that anything had changed between them was the fact that on that particular night neither of them bothered to return to Funbari Onsen.

**Side Story 01 -- End**


	14. Side Story 1 Hao Version

Additional Author's Notes: This was written a little more than a month after I wrote the other side of the story. I got the impression that the previous story was a little too one-sided and opted to take another look at it from a different perspective. Being able to see the same story from multiple points of view is one of the benefits of long term role-playing. It also enables me to assert the fact that I am not the main character. More often than not it seems like the other characters have been conspiring against me with my friends behind my back anyway.

* * *

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

Author's Notes: This time around I will be revisiting the events dealing with when Crystal and Hao were coming to terms with their feelings from a more Hao centric perspective. After all, he certainly had plenty to say about it.

* * *

Side Story 01b -- Defining Moments

In the years that had passed since the unexpected conclusion of the Shaman Fight, Hao had settled into the mindless tedium of living at Funbari Onsen with his younger brother and his brother's charming, yet exceptionally mild mannered fiancee. The newly restored Inn also served as a second home for several of Yoh's friends who had become frequent freeloading house guests. Of course this was only tolerated as long as they were willing to put up with taking orders from Anna to help out around the Inn by doing the grocery shopping or performing various acts of manual labor. Inevitably their most frequent visitor was Horohoro.

Then one day a pair of unexpected visitors arrived from quite a long distance away. That the two shamans accompanied by a waterfall spirit and a spirit that looked to be a mix between a wolf and a fox had arrived together was not surprising. The two girls had spent a good amount of the Shaman Fight traveling together for a variety of reasons that Hao wasn't personally familiar with. Still, Cat and Crystal had accompanied each other quite often enough that it seemed perfectly natural that they would arrive on Yoh's doorstep simultaneously. It was also quite likely that they had come together deliberately, possibly to make their visit a little less awkward than it might have been for one of them alone.

Needless to say, their arrival had provided Hao with some much needed entertainment. He was, however, caught momentarily by surprise when he found himself on the receiving end of a hug from Crystal which seemed strangely out of character on account of the fact that he knew she had given the idea some thought back when he was still able to read minds accompanied by the qualifier that she would never actually do it. Then again, it was entirely possible that the one she was trying to convince by thinking that was herself which just raised more questions. There would be plenty of time for that later which meant that for the moment he was able to regain his composure almost as soon as he had lost it. He concealed a hint of a smile behind his more typical look of amusement and tried not to sound overly smug knowing that the girl in question was probably already going to be off her guard when her mind finally managed to get caught up with her actions which meant that at the very least he could have a little fun messing with her.

"I knew you would come back eventually."

Crystal quickly took a step away from him and looked much more surprised than Hao had only seconds before her. She had already begun contemplating her actions with considerable confusion. Hao thought it was rather cute.

* * *

At first Crystal became distant. Even when Hao found himself alone with her she seemed to be on her guard. Hao hadn't meant to make her uncomfortable and mostly left her alone during the days that followed except that she seemed to have chosen the same spot by the river to do her stargazing at night that he had. The first night that it happened Hao decided to just pass it off as a mere coincidence. The second night he decided he might as well call her on it.

"Why did you pick this spot again?"

"Because I happen to like it here," Crystal answered him without hesitation. "And you know as well as I do that this is one of the best places to watch the stars from."

Hao wasn't about to argue with her about that. After all, it was very obviously true or he wouldn't have kept coming back to it.

* * *

On the third night something different happened. On the previous two nights Crystal had left for Funbari Onsen when she felt herself become too tired to keep up with her stargazing. This time, however, she simply let herself doze off on the grass by the river without a second thought. This fairly insignificant act caused Hao to reconsider the seemingly unlikely situation that he had gradually become aware of after Crystal's arrival just a few days before.

_She trusts me, _he reminded himself. _And it's entirely possible that she still likes me._

Even if Crystal had gone on with her life over the past few years it didn't alter the fact that a connection existed between them. In the past it would have been easy enough for Hao to simply overlook it because he had been preoccupied with other things like creating his Shaman Kingdom and eliminating humanity. Now, however, there was very little to prevent him from being receptive to it. Unfortunately, Crystal still seemed to be in denial about it and that was going to make it a sensitive topic to bring up in conversation. Still, there was a part of him that wanted to talk about it.

As he watched her sleep he noted how well Crystal seemed to fit into these surroundings. A little while later, after she had managed to wake herself up, Crystal would provide him with the opportunity to discuss precisely what had been on his mind for the past few days. The outcome of that conversation would turn out to be surprisingly favorable.

* * *

The following afternoon Hao retreated to the roof of Funbari Onsen to get some time to himself. After all, most of the usual patrons of the Inn were generally more inclined to adhere to the laws of physics which meant gravity would discourage them from following him up there and those with the means to follow him were being kept busy by the charming Inn hostess. He had to hand it to Anna--she really did fit the profile quite nicely. Of course that obviously wasn't what he had gone up there to think about.

A lot had changed since the tournament. Hao couldn't deny that. He had done some terrible things and hurt a lot of innocent people in the past. Even if he had come out of it and learned the error of his ways that didn't alter what had happened. He, of all people, knew just how fickle the human heart could be. In a very general sense, Crystal still came off as being relatively innocent although unlike others with similarly seemingly misaimed trust it wasn't as if she seemed hopelessly naive about it. She was fully aware of the danger, but she was also confident in her intuition even as she went to extraordinary lengths to deny it.

Hao really wasn't sure whether or not he deserved to be around someone like that. Still, there was certainly a part of him that wanted her to like him. Perhaps he was still being arrogant and selfish, but it wasn't as if he couldn't be mature about it. He had already hurt enough people. That wasn't the kind of life he wanted anymore. More than that, he realized that for some reason Crystal seemed happy when she was with him and he wanted to keep it that way.

Hao knew he couldn't offer her a normal relationship, friendship or otherwise, but then looking into the distance he figured that probably wouldn't make much of a difference to her. An Oversoul with the distinct silhouette of a blue dragon with silver wings was streaking across the sky with an unsurprisingly familiar occupant at the heart of it. Indeed, the concept of "normal" hardly seemed to be relevant to her. At least that would make things a little bit easier for him.

"Very well then," Hao decided. "Two can play at that game."

**Side Story 01b -- End**

**

* * *

**Additional Author's Notes: There is one more side story that I am inclined to submit after these. I think I'm probably going to want to wait on that though.


	15. Side Story 2

Author's Notes: By this point I kind of just gave up and went along with my friends about the whole fluff thing. It was easier than arguing with them about it. Of course I still added my own spin to things because I'm not really one to go down quietly. For some reason that just made my friends even more enthusiastic.

* * *

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

* * *

Side Story 02 -- Some of Us Just Need a Shove in the Right Direction

It was still summer which meant that for the residents of Funbari Onsen it was hot. Sure, Anna had politely convinced (which is to say she demanded it in such a way that it almost sounded like a threat) Manta to pay for air conditioning for the Inn, but that was only beneficial as long as you were able to remain inside. Household chores outside of the kitchen didn't necessarily allow for that which meant that Yoh and Horohoro were both sweating something fierce as they scrubbed down the onsen, but at least that would give them a reasonable excuse to take a nice long soak when they were finished.

Hao had devised his own approach to beating the heat. He had taken the liberty of soaking his short sleeved, off-white tunic with little metallic star-shaped ornaments on either end of the drawstring in the river before he had returned to the Inn which meant that by the time he got there it was only slightly damp and was unlikely to drip on the floor. His frayed jeans didn't retain heat very well either so he was actually quite comfortable regardless of the weather. The temperature was doing nothing to bother him, but that hadn't kept him from sitting at the table contemplating a cup of tea for the better part of ten minutes.

It had been several days now. Hao had come to terms with that fact that he seemed to like having Crystal around. However, he was beginning to realize that her habitual disappearances were making him uncomfortable. Sure, she came back to stargaze at the end of the day, but he was always at a loss as to what she was busy doing or where she was going. It wasn't like during the Shaman Fight when he could have just read her mind to know what she was up to. He didn't have that power anymore. Still, knowing that girl's track record for getting into trouble when she went off by herself wasn't at all reassuring. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed when Cat sat down across from him.

"Let me guess," Hao didn't have to look up to know that Cat was grinning. "You're worried about Crystal."

Denial was easy. "Why would I worry about her?"

"Maybe because it's written all over your face," Cat suggested in a manner that Hao didn't really appreciate as being helpful. "You care about her and you want to know that she's alright."

In these situations it is remarkable how easily some people will resort to the most childish methods of being defensive. Hao was no exception to this. By this point he already had his arms folded over his chest defiantly with every intention of being snarky about it. "I never said that."

"If you weren't worried, then you wouldn't have been staring at that tea all this time. You'd have been drinking it."

"So what?" Hao certainly had some talent when it came to sounding indignant.

"So, have you gotten around to telling her that you like her yet?" Cat was, perhaps, one of the most underhanded people Hao had ever met and potentially even more manipulative than he was given the chance. That didn't mean he wasn't about to put up a fight. After all, Hao is as stubborn as they come. Nevertheless, this question did have the desired effect of catching him completely off guard.

"No... I haven't... I mean, I don't..." he couldn't even finish his argument it was that poorly constructed. And that was just making him all the more flustered about it.

"I don't see why you're making such a big deal out of this. You know damn well that she likes you," Cat was also fully capable of being persistent to an infuriating degree that often made Hao (and perhaps others) wonder if she even realized how tactless she was being. Of course once you go down that road you have to wonder if she's just doing that on purpose. "She has such a major crush on you I think anyone could see it. And it's fairly obvious that you aren't so indifferent to her either."

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about." The best known defense of any child is to deliberately misunderstand anything that is said to them so as to avoid the subject. Hao was confident that 1000 years had given him more than enough time to perfect this art.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you do. Anyone can see that you love her," Cat had apparently been putting a lot of effort into perfecting the art of breaking down the defenses of small children behind his back. Hao's ego couldn't take much more of this.

"I don't... I never said that!" This was punctuated by Hao slamming his fist down on the table very nearly knocking over the cup of tea that had been sitting in front of him causing the contents to splash and sway about furiously.

"You can't deny it either," Cat noted already sounding victorious. "Really, you should just tell her."

"Even she isn't sure it would work," Hao still had one last defense available to him and this was it.

"Is that the best you can come up with?" Cat actually sounded annoyed with him this time. "Crystal is plagued with doubt about anything that might make her happy. Believe me, she would rather fend off giant monsters than be forced to admit to having feelings. It drives me batty. It doesn't make sense. You two are happy together. You fit. You won't even know whether or not it will work if you don't even try. Why won't either of you just give it a chance?"

She didn't even give him a chance to protest further, "And you know damn well you would be seething with jealousy if she were with someone else."

Hao went quiet. He could tell that it would have been useless to argue after that. He knew he was just being stubborn even if he didn't like to admit it.

"Mind you," Cat started again in a softer tone now that she had his attention, "there is an easy way to find her."

"Alright," Hao grudgingly accepted his defeat. "How do we find her?"

"She's going to tell us exactly where she is," Cat declared holding up her cell phone. She pressed one of the auto-dial keys and switched on speaker phone. Almost as soon as it started to ring someone had picked up on the other end.

"What's up?" Crystal's voice came through the receiver.

"Your boyfriend is looking for you," Cat might have sounded innocent, but it was doubtful that anyone would have believed her when she was grinning like that.

"He's not my boyfriend," Crystal responded automatically. Clearly they had been practicing this sort of exchange for quite some time now.

"If you weren't so thick headed about it he could be," Cat wasn't going to go easy on her either. "Anyway, where are you?"

"I went to check out that television station in Odaiba," Crystal's voice continued through the receiver. "You know, the one from Digimon. I'm actually on my way back already. In fact, I'm just a few more stops from the train station."

Cat turned to Hao with the most conspiratorial look he had seen yet, "You hear that lover-boy? If you hurry to the station you'll be able to meet her there."

Hao was stunned into silence again.

"Wait," Crystal practically screeched through the receiver. "He's there with you right now?!"

"You really are adorable when you flail like that," Cat deliberately neglected to answer the question. "Sorry, you seem to be breaking up. I'll see you when you get back." Click. She was practically beaming by the time she hung up the phone. Her next move was obvious. She managed to coax Hao onto his feet and away from the table before shoving him bodily toward the front door. "You shouldn't keep her waiting."

Slipping on a pair of sandals that probably didn't belong to him, Hao took off in the direction of the train station. In all honesty he didn't have the slightest idea what he was getting himself into.

* * *

Cat was evil. Crystal was sure of it now. What made it worse was the fact that as soon as the call had ended Taki saw fit to wish her luck and then abandoned her on the spot so that she was alone by the time she got off the train back at the station in Funbari which meant that she would have to face Hao by herself. She had certainly dressed the part for her trip to Odaiba. Her silver tanktop, blue jeans and black slip-on shoes were perfect for beating the summer heat and would have been ideal for gallivanting around the Digital World if not for the fact that in this universe it was confined to being part of an Anime series and not a tangible place she could actually visit. She also had her hair tied back in a ponytail to keep it out of the way and was mostly ignoring the travel worn messenger bag she had slung over her shoulder. It had been shaping up to be a pretty good day until Cat decided to take matters into her own hands. Of course any intention Crystal might have had of lecturing Cat about minding her own business when she got back instantly evaporated when she saw that Hao really was there waiting at the station when she got there. Well damn, how was it that Cat's manipulative little schemes always seemed to work?

"You know you didn't have to come wait for me," Crystal started hesitantly. "But I am kind of glad you're here."

"Don't worry about it," Hao responded slowly. Apparently reacting to these situations by looking cute and sheepish had a way of running in the family, but damn if he didn't have a nice smile. "I really did want to see you."

That was definitely enough to make Crystal blush. She might have gotten as far as hugging him, but he kind of beat her to it.

"I like being with you," Hao started again. "And I at least like to know that you're safe. Remember, I have seen some of the dangerous things that have a way of following you."

Alright, so there was definitely hugging on Crystal's part too. She was just kind of slow about it.

"I try to avoid making that kind of trouble for myself these days," Crystal admitted quietly. "It doesn't always work since I guess some days I just really have it in for myself, but I like to think I've gotten better about it. Still, if you'd like to join me on my little misadventures all you've got to do is ask. It's not like I'm going to stop you."

"You know," Hao whispered softly into Crystal's ear. "That goes for you too."

That definitely made her squeak. And flail. Mostly though, it just made her cling to him harder and bury her face against his shirt which smelled suspiciously like the river. They were never going to hear the end of it from Cat, but somehow that had ceased to be a bad thing.

**Side Story 02 -- End**

**

* * *

**Additional Author's Notes: This concludes the side stories that I wanted to include with the rest of this. Perhaps now I will be able to get on with something that doesn't make me feel like I'm just looking for trouble.


	16. Side Story 3

Author's Notes: Apparently as long as my friends keep encouraging me to write sequences like this there will be plenty more to share. Or not. I'm really not sure anymore.

* * *

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

* * *

Side Story 3 -- Hours to Reflect On

_I guess the whole reason I've come this far is because I wanted to know that what happened back then was actually real. This isn't some ridiculous fabrication of reality like the ones I would surround myself with on the school playground. I never would have thought that someone like me could be part of a world where my innate creativity can have so many possible applications. Still, I've got a bad feeling about this...~_

These were Crystal's thoughts as she sat uneasily on board the Patch Jumbo Jet. There were several reasons for her discomfort some of which were more readily apparent than others.

The first and most pressing issue was that Crystal could tell right off the bat that something wasn't quite right about the plane. She was familiar with the concept of using an Oversoul in the place of an actual vehicle. It was probably a perfectly functional Jumbo Jet aside from the fact that there was the unfortunate possibility that it could also spontaneously cease to exist at any time.

As soon as she pushed that to the back of her mind there was also the strange feeling she had that she was being watched by someone she knew. Unknown to her at the time it was her friend and eventual traveling companion Tyriel who was the culprit. He always had a certain talent for being impossible to find unless he wanted to be found so it came as no surprise later on that she hadn't spotted him at the time.

Then there was the fact that she was trying to pretend that she hadn't noticed that Hao and his rather imposing entourage were occupying a considerable portion of the plane's passenger cabin. He seemed to be comfortably unconcerned by the highly questionable structural integrity of the flight accommodations, but then Crystal suspected that he probably had a fairly good idea what was going on and how to deal with it at the required time. Despite her efforts to remain ignorant it was still rather apparent that she was a little too aware of that particular group for her own good. Moreover, she wasn't the only one who had noticed.

"What are you doing?" Cat felt obligated to comment on the fact that Crystal was sitting with her forehead against the seat in front of her and hadn't spoken since the flight started. Granted, Crystal had been primarily sitting there using her headphones to listen to her portable CD player on what must have been a rather low volume setting given that she still seemed to be fully aware of her surroundings regardless of the music she had been listening to.

"Thinking," Crystal responded automatically. "And trying not to. It's kind of hard to balance out what's going on inside my head."

"You afraid of flying or something?" Cat persisted. In reality it was the other way around.

"It's nothing like that," Crystal finally opted to lean back in her seat. "Normally I'm all for flying, but there's something weird about this plane."

"You think it could be an Oversoul?" Cat sounded genuinely curious.

"Probably," was the only reply Crystal could think of. She shifted around in her seat to glance over the back of the chair and looked away just as quickly before sliding back down into her seat again. _I guess I should probably thank him._ Clearly her mind was still quick to wander.

Cat certainly hadn't missed that, "You know if you want to you can probably walk over there and talk to him, right?"

"And you could go talk to that blue-haired guy you've been staring at," Crystal countered.

Cat became flustered for just a few seconds before she quickly recovered in full force, "He's asleep and I'm pretty sure he's already taken by the one with the tongari."

"Fine," Crystal relaxed into her seat again, "but I'm still not going back there. I don't want to bother him."

"Well if you won't," Cat rolled out of her seat, "then I will." She waved cheerfully as she headed in the direction of where Hao and his followers were situated on the plane. "Hey there! Are those seats taken?"

Crystal reached down to fiddle with the little spinning dial that controlled the volume setting on her CD player just in time to see the digital display fade out indicating that the batteries were dead. If it had been anyone else, then the timing might have been amusing, but as it was Crystal simply sighed and began cramming the audio equipment into her messenger bag. This was really the least of her concerns, but that didn't mean she wasn't still trying to avoid it. A moment later she was strolling after Cat as if the whole thing had somehow been the other girl's idea from the start.

"You win," Crystal conceded once she was close enough to be heard without having to raise her voice and draw attention to herself in the process. "Clearly Fate is mocking me today."

"I don't see why you're so against admitting there's a guy you like," Cat actually sounded like she honestly believed that was the real problem.

"It isn't anything like that," Crystal paused in considerable confusion. _At least, I don't think it is. I doubt something like that could even happen to me._ Her next remark probably sounded a little more defensive than she had intended, "I don't even know him. I just bumped into him a couple of times is all."

This time it was Cat's turn to sound surprised, "Wait... does that mean this really isn't the first time you've met?"

"Come on," Crystal brought a palm to her forehead. "I already told you about why I entered this tournament. He's the one I saw when I was on that trail in the woods up behind my house."

"Speaking of which," Hao finally decided to speak up, "I see you've still got that bracelet."

"About that," Crystal started hesitantly. _You do realize that she's never going to let me hear the end of this, right?_ "I really appreciate that you made me aware of my powers and that Taki was able to teach me how to control them. I mean honestly, there I was manifesting things for the fun of it and I never would have realized it was dangerous unless I had lost my temper and actually hurt someone."

"This certainly makes things more interesting, doesn't it?" Hao's rather ambiguous statement could have been in response to either of these trains of thought. It was likely intended for both as he found it rather fascinating that Crystal was deliberately trying to have two conversations with him at once.

"I suppose you could say that," Crystal admitted. It was strange, but she actually felt better for having talked to him. And to think, she had Cat to thank for that. "Anyway, I guess we'll see you around." She turned to address Cat, "You can stay and do what you want, but I'm through for the moment." Then she headed back to her seat. If memory served there were still some working batteries in her Gameboy she could swap with the ones in her CD player to make it start working again.

Cat had gone notably quiet after her attempt to torment Crystal had apparently backfired so spectacularly.

* * *

"I think that was when I first started to consider that maybe my preoccupation with you wasn't just a matter of simple curiosity," Crystal concluded while strategically utilizing Hao's decidedly bare stomach for a pillow while stargazing down by the river thoroughly enjoying the spectacular view provided by an exceptionally clear night that also happened to coincide with the new moon.

To his credit, the main reason Hao's torso was so expertly exposed was largely because he had at some point taken off his shirt and folded it for use as a pillow for himself. So far no evidence has been provided to support claims that there might have been ulterior motives behind this. He mostly just looked to be comfortable and relaxed. It was entirely possible that he was exhibiting a certain unwarranted air of smugness, but it was really no more than was typical for him.

"I suppose it isn't so strange that you were at odds with yourself after that," he started thoughtfully. "It was something you didn't want to believe you were even capable of and you didn't know how to handle it. It was all just part of being a teenager."

"Well sure," Crystal became somewhat defensive, "it sounds totally demeaning when you put it like that." She snorted realizing just how silly that sounded, "At least I managed to grow out of it."

"Indeed," Hao tried to contain his amusement. "That has been fortunate for both of us."

**Side Story 3 -- End**


	17. Side Story 4

Warning: This story contains trace amounts of angst, existential philosophy and highly subjective romantic overtones. If this is your first time viewing this fanfic and you decided to just skip to the end it is recommended that you go back and start from the beginning. Even if you've already read the entire story so far it is still advised that you might want to considering leaving now if you are easily offended by pairings that include original characters. Might I suggest navigating over to my Shaman King and Digimon Adventure 02 crossover fanfic that is still in progress and likely to be updated later this week? All romance shall be blamed on Hao until further notice. I didn't even notice it was there until my friends pointed it out to me which means that clearly someone else was pulling the strings during that part of the story.

Author's Notes: I already know I'm a terrible person for writing this. I'll try to make up for it by encouraging my friends to suggest more seemingly random pairings for me to write about rather than focusing on this one. I'm thinking a little more Yoh/Hao or Hao/Yoh is in order myself.

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Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

* * *

Side Story 4 -- The Value of Imperfection

The river was always a good place to go when you wanted to be alone. However, for Crystal wanting to be alone almost always guaranteed that she had been followed by someone who wouldn't let that happen. This was precisely the reason she had found herself sitting at the base of a tree accompanied by a large black wolf of variable opacity. It had been a good number of years since Tyriel had opted to remain in the form of a wolf spirit instead of being restored to his human body once the Shaman Fight had ended. It had taken some getting used to, but ultimately nothing had really changed between them. They were still friends even if Crystal didn't get to see Tyriel as much while she was trying to settle into a pseudo normal existence. It hadn't worked and eventually Crystal had chosen to return to Tokyo where the tournament she had up until that point been trying to put behind her had initially taken place.

She hadn't been expecting to see Hao. After all, as the Shaman King he had remained inside the Great Spirit to watch while Yoh and his friends tried to do what they could to fix the world so that Hao might feel differently about wanting to kill everyone. It was an empty threat. Crystal was relatively certain that whatever else Hao had intended to gain from becoming Shaman King, killing all humans was something he could have easily accomplished by his own power even without obtaining the power of the Great Spirit. No, because of Yoh and his friends Hao had been given what he had been searching for all along. There was no reason for him to still be seeking vengeance against humanity. Once she had finally seen him again it was plain to see that Hao had long since grown out of that.

"And just what are you moping about?" Tyriel wasn't about to let Crystal become so deeply introspective without giving her a hard time about it.

"I don't know," Crystal slumped down with her back against the trunk of the tree behind her. "It just seems like this entire situation shouldn't even be possible. I mean, why does any of this even make sense?"

"He's still the same person," Tyriel attempted to sound reassuring. "I might look like a wolf, but I'm still the same obnoxious and fiendishly clever rogue I've always been. I doubt becoming a technical deity has really change him."

Crystal slumped further, "But that's just it. Why would someone in his position even have the slightest bit of interest in a mere human like me? He should be way out of my league."

"Hm," Tyriel considered this for a brief moment before he continued. "Well, for one thing you've never been much good at actually acting like a human. You've got absolutely no interest in status or power. In fact, if at all possible you seem much more inclined to avoid situations that would provide you with either. On top of that you actually cared about Hao while he still had most of the shaman population convinced that he was an evil bastard out to kill everyone. Mind you, he did kill us, but if we wanted to be revived afterward he was nice enough to take care of that. Despite all that you loved him anyway even if you didn't understand it yourself. Face it, as far as humans go you must be very interesting."

"But that doesn't actually explain anything!" Crystal became defensive which indicated that the angst ridden atmosphere that had been surrounding her was quickly transformed to one filled with embarrassment. The uncooperative blushing that had taken over her cheeks certainly wasn't helping her case.

"Besides," Tyriel persisted, "as I recall deities have been seducing mortals for centuries." He paused and smirked, "Just look at all those myths about Zeus."

Crystal sighed, "It also means that he could just become intangible and vanish on a whim."

Tyriel rose to his feet and stood so that he was looking the girl in the face, "But you don't really believe he would do that to you."

"No," Crystal sounded downright sheepish. "I trust him more than that."

"Good," Tyriel circled back to where he had been sitting next to her and settled back on his haunches. "Hao might be in control of all the power of the Great Spirit, but I'm sure you of all people can appreciate how much of a challenge that must be for someone with a human heart."

Crystal tilted her head back to look between the gaps between the branches of the tree above her, "I suppose when you have all the time in the world it's more interesting to see what someone else would do with it."

"And in that regard you must be fascinating," Tyriel admitted. "Let's see, you have no desire to envision a perfect paradise as it would lack the unpredictable qualities that allow for any kind of excitement. In fact, the concept of perfection just seems to make you uncomfortable in general. And you've always gone out of your way to be a decent person even when it seems like you're being punished for it. It's like you follow your own rules, but you still try to be fair to everyone."

Crystal lowered her gaze and turned to stare at him, "Didn't I say all that on the bus to school at some point?"

"Several times actually," Tyriel informed her. "It doesn't make it any less true."

"I guess," Crystal started hesitantly, "I should go see him."

* * *

That seemed to satisfy Tyriel. It was enough to convince him that it would be alright to leave Crystal to her own devices and when she got up to head further down stream the large black wolf refrained from following her.

It wasn't all that difficult for Crystal to find who she was looking for. He seemed to favor certain places along the river, but more than that his presence was unmistakable. There was a certain warmth she had always felt from him although it had become much more prominent as he had gradually permitted it to rise to the surface after keeping it buried for such a long time. It was a strong reminder of the connection she felt toward him.

"I hope this spot hasn't been taken yet," she commented before sitting down beside him facing the river. The water was still flowing at its usual pace despite the fact that the weather was rapidly becoming colder.

"Not yet," Hao confirmed for her. He smiled thoughtfully, "It seemed like you could use some time to yourself."

Crystal wrinkled her nose, "Tell that to Tyriel."

"I don't think he would be inclined to listen to me," Hao sounded somewhat amused. "Besides, it seems like he knows you so much better than I do."

Crystal rolled her eyes, "That's just because he's known me longer."

"So," Hao continued in a softer tone. "Did you manage to get what you needed to off your chest?"

"I guess so," Crystal didn't really sound so sure.

Hao held his hand out in front of him and conjured up a tiny ball of fire, "It seems like a parlor trick, doesn't it? It's like making something from nothing when you don't understand how it works." He tilted his head to glance at Crystal, "But you know, that doesn't make the fire any less real."

"That's true," Crystal admitted. She reached over and rested her hand over the flames allowing the flickering tendrils to graze around her outstretched fingers in an almost hypnotic dance. "Get too close and you might get burned. But it's a risk I'm willing to take." The flames gradually diminished and extinguished themselves as she captured Hao's hand in her own with her fingers laced between his.

"You might be experiencing the world in a way that few others have," she considered, "but you're still here and that's enough."

Hao gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "And I'm perfectly capable of being just as real and solid as anyone else. Of course, you already knew that." He gave Crystal a knowing look that made the girl blush. Then he pulled his hand free so as to grab her around the shoulders and drag her closer. "You really are one of the most self conscious people I've ever met and it so happens that I've had plenty of time to meet a whole lot of people."

Then he smiled, "Although I suppose that's just part of your charm."

Crystal could already feel herself starting to melt just from the feel of being in is arms. It really wasn't fair that Hao had that kind of effect on her.

**Side Story 4 -- End**

**

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**Additional Author's Notes: Although this is arguably one of the less twisted ideas that has come up recently, I think it would save me some embarrassment to just avoid these sort of situations altogether in future writings. Unless, of course, people actually like this kind of stuff, but I have yet to encounter any evidence in support of that.


	18. Side Story 5

Author's Notes: Alright, so technically I was planning on taking the week off from writing fanfics to prepare for NaNoWriMo, but then I got the itch to write and it just wouldn't go away so this is what you get.

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Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

* * *

Side Story 5 -- Game Plan

It was fairly early in the day. Some might argue that it was a little too early for being awake, let alone training. Something as trivial as the time of day wasn't about to stop Crystal and Tyriel from making a rather good show of sparring on the outskirts of the Patch Village. This amounted to Crystal perching on the shoulder of the transparent blue dragon that had become the standard shape for her Oversoul standing at roughly 15 feet in height. It would certainly be a long way down if she were to fall off, but not nearly as much as being dropped from the Patch Jumbo Jet or when she had accompanied Hao briefly on Spirit of Fire. This was a perfectly safe distance from the ground as far as she was concerned.

Tyriel, for his part, had conjured up an Oversoul in the form of a massive canine face suspended in the air in front of him. He was waiting for Crystal to make her move. This came in the form of Crystal causing the array of spikes along the dragon's spine to launch off in the form of small projectiles that resembled actual missiles before they planted themselves into the ground around Tyriel and promptly exploded covering the sand in a thin layer of ice. Clearly someone had been watching a little too much anime or something.

"Your aim is terrible this morning," Tyriel called up to her jovially. He was curious to see what she would do next.

"That's because I'm still warming up," Crystal responded from her perch. Her next statement wasn't meant to sound at all reassuring, "Besides, I wasn't aiming for you."

The dragon extended a clawed hand toward the sky summoning a radiant ball of blue fire into existence which it then hurled down at the newly frozen ground. What followed was an eruption of steam as the temperature differentials clashed. Crystal seemed to be rather pleased by the result. Where she was watching from the sidelines Cat just thought they were both insane. It was bad enough that they saw fit to be conscious before noon, but the fact they were in the middle of the desert meant that it was already getting hot and that just made it worse.

"How the hell can you two stand to move around in the sun like that?" she shouted at them indignantly. She refused to join in the training on principle. She didn't even want to be awake at that hour. Exerting herself was out of the question.

"We grew up in this," Crystal answered like it explained everything. Technically it was true. Growing up in certain parts of California meant that one had to develop a certain amount of tolerance for high temperatures. Crystal had a theory that during the summer the best places to be were in air conditioned places like the mall or movie theater. The alternative was to go to the beach or never get out of the swimming pool. By comparison, the early morning temperature just outside of Patch Village was actually rather nice.

A double-bladed sword materialized in the hand of the dragon opposite the shoulder Crystal was perching on. Taking the newly formed weapon in both hands the dragon lunged into the fog that had come to shroud Tyriel from view. Crystal knew she was on her mark when one of the blades struck something that refused to yield. It had been caught between the fearsome jaws of Tyriel's Oversoul.

"You do realize that if you don't let go I'm going to be forced to make you, right?" Crystal called down from her perch.

"I'd like to see you try," Tyriel challenged.

"Alright then," Crystal responded. "You asked for it."

Electricity coursed down the dragon's arm into the weapon. Tyriel's Oversoul was dislodged by the jolt. As the fog began to dissipate he unleashed a sound-based projectile attack using a high pitched rendition of the coyote spirit's howling. It was completely invisible, but Crystal could still hear it coming. The dragon began twirling its double-bladed sword rapidly until it produced a shockwave of its own to disrupt the frequency of the sound to make it harmless. To further emphasize this point Crystal also caused the letters forming the word _Miss_ to materialize in front of her afterward.

Tyriel snorted, "Oh yes, that's real clever."

Crystal grinned from her perch on the dragon's shoulder, "I thought so."

"You guys are attracting an audience!" Cat called out to both of them.

"Huh?" Crystal sounded rather puzzled until she looked over to see that Hao, along with his entire entourage, had apparently come out to investigate. "I guess we were kind of loud. Oh well, time for a break." She shrugged it off and slid down the outstretched arm of the dragon until she was standing in its palm to lower herself onto the ground. She quickly disengaged her Oversoul and allowed Taki to reform sitting on _her_ shoulder. Tyriel hesitated before following her example. Even without paying attention Crystal could already tell the inevitable argument was starting.

"Are you guys stalking us or something?" Cat started ranting at Macchi.

"Do they have to do this every time they see each other?" Crystal brought a palm to her forehead.

"Well if you would just join us, then Hao-sama wouldn't have to keep trying to recruit you," Macchi stated matter-of-factly.

Crystal shrugged, "I don't think Hao really cares one way or another what we decide to do. He just likes watching us fight."

"Maybe you should stop showing off so much," Tyriel suggested.

"Unfortunately we still need to practice," Crystal reminded him.

"Hear that?" Cat was still getting in Macchi's face about all this. "You guys are interrupting our training session."

"You weren't even doing anything," Macchi wasn't about to go down quietly.

"I was watching," Cat countered just as loudly.

"So was Hao-sama!"

Everyone else made the smart decision to just ignore them as the argument continued to escalate in the background.

"I don't get it," Crystal turned to Tyriel. "Is my fighting style really that entertaining? I thought I was getting kind of carried away toward the end there."

"That's probably why Hao-sama finds it interesting." Much to Crystal's surprise, it was actually Kanna who suggested this rather startling new perspective.

Tyriel voiced his agreement, "She has a point."

"Whatever," Crystal didn't want to think about it anymore. By that point something else had stolen her attention anyway. It was a suspiciously familiar smell coming from the Patch Village. "I smell coffee and that means there must be a cafe not far from here. I think it's time for some hot chocolate."

With that she and Tyriel, accompanied by their respective spirits, wandered off in search of the cafe that Crystal had set her sights on. By that point the argument between Cat and Macchi had deteriorated into a contest of superiority. There was a vague dispute about who had the larger breast size that culminated in Cat suggesting that maybe they should just grope each other to find out. Mari got the distinct impression that Hao_-_sama was enjoying this. However, once Cat noticed that Crystal and Tyriel had left her behind, she also decided it was time to leave and wandered off in her own direction forgetting about the argument entirely.

* * *

Crystal sighed as she settled into a chair at the cafe with a mug of hot chocolate on the table in front of her. Tyriel sat across from her although he certainly didn't share in her dismay.

"At this rate we're not going to get any training done without drawing attention to ourselves," Crystal sighed again.

Tyriel shrugged, "It isn't like you really need much training anyway. It's me and Cat you've been worrying about."

"Well yeah," Crystal relaxed a little at that reminder. She wasn't the only one who would have to be able to defend themselves in the future. "We already know I have more Furyoku than both of you. Of course the application is just as important as the amount so that isn't really an issue. I just want to be sure you guys can handle yourselves without me if things start to go wrong on the road ahead."

Tyriel eyed her somewhat incredulously, "I can handle myself just fine. You're the one who hesitates and creates handicaps out of thin air."

"Fair enough," Crystal finally paused long enough to take a sip of hot chocolate. "At some point I'm going to have to stop holding myself back, but that time hasn't arrived yet."

"In the meantime," Tyriel's tone softened, "there is something else that you want to look into."

Crystal shrugged, "There's always something else."

"So what is it?" Tyriel sounded genuinely curious.

"I've been thinking about one of the other groups in this tournament. You've probably seen them too," Crystal explained. "I'm curious to know why one of them looks so much like Hao."

"Ah," Tyriel's voice contained a hint of recognition. "You mean the one that was traveling with that bunch with all the unusual hairstyles."

"I only noticed them because Cat kept staring at the one with blue hair," Crystal respond hurriedly. "Anyway, the one that looks a lot like Hao... I think they called him Yoh. Do you think they might be related?"

Tyriel shrugged, "You're the one who brought it up."

"Well," Crystal continued. "If we go strictly based on appearance and relative age, then I'm guessing they might even be twins."

"Alright," Tyriel started, "I'll bite. Why does that matter to you?"

"Because," Crystal went on. "Even if he doesn't know anything about what's going on it might be a good idea for us to meet him anyway."

"I'm still not sure I follow," Tyriel still didn't seem convinced.

"Look," Crystal started again. "If I found out that my long lost brother was plotting world domination, then I'd want all the friends I can get."

Tyriel snorted, "I don't think your brother could pull it off."

"You've got a point there," Crystal couldn't help laughing at that.

* * *

"Of course after that we realized that all the Shaman Fight participants were going to be busy training in whatever way suited them so finding anyone in particular wasn't going to be an easy task. I got the idea that we could practice stealth operations while we were looking, but then _you_ snuck up on us again." Crystal leered meaningful at Hao from across the river. A gentle autumn breeze blew over the surface of the water although truthfully it was one of the warmer days that week.

"You certainly jumped quite a bit when you noticed I was behind you," Hao chuckled and did his best to look innocent.

Crystal rolled her eyes at him, "I know. You and Tyriel both thought it was hilarious."

"You don't scare easily," Hao reminded her. "It was a little surprising that something that wasn't meant to be threatening at all could make you shriek like that."

"It's a conditioned response," Crystal grumbled. Unfortunately since Hao was clearly enjoying himself it was kind of hard for her to stay mad at him. He was definitely lucky to be blessed with such a cute smile.

"Anyway," she continued. "Once Tyriel and I managed to regroup with Cat we were eventually able to determine the location of Team Funbari Onsen. If I remember correctly that was when Anna first mentioned that there was something wrong with my sense of self preservation. We didn't really stick around after we introduced ourselves. There wasn't much point. I had been thinking about prodding Cat toward Horohoro, but by that point Team The Ren was training separately so that would have just made the day more complicated."

"You went back to training as I recall," Hao seemed amused. "Of course we both know for you it was really more of a game."

"So," Crystal eyed him. "Does that mean you just wanted the chance to play with us?"

"That's not what I said," Hao looked away trying to feign indignation. This lasted only as long as it took for him to start smiling again. "It's not like I could help it. You have a way of coming up with rather good ideas."

Crystal grinned, "So about how long do you think it'll take for Cat to figure out that I keep ditching her with Horohoro on purpose?"

"I'm fairly certain she already caught on to that," Hao informed her.

"Oh well," Crystal wasn't about to let that spoil her fun. "She'll just have to torture me for it later."

Obviously it was just that much more important to continue lounging by the river for the moment.

**Side Story 5 -- End**

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**Additional Author's Notes: That should be it until December. Hopefully this will be enough to tide you all over until then.


	19. Izumo Chronicles Part 1

Author's Notes: So, it's November and I decided that I was going to participate in NaNoWriMo. Then, when I managed to get kind of ahead with my daily word count some of my friends got jealous and I decided to tackle a side project to appease them. That side project eventually became a five part story arc. And that's what started this.

* * *

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

* * *

Izumo Chronicles Part 1 -- The Truth About Feelings

The passage of time is a strange thing. Sometimes years can pass without anything really changing. And then, sometimes, it might just take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of days for everything you know to change very suddenly. Needless to say, this second type of change can take some getting used to. And that was precisely what had happened to Crystal. It had taken just a few days to unravel the commonly accepted notions of reality it had taken her several years to settle into.

Being a teenager was difficult enough without having to tell the world about a past that no one, barring another shaman, was ever going to believe so she had fabricated a somewhat less fantastic explanation for the year she had been away from home. At the very least it would be more believable than the truth to most people. That didn't mean that the Shaman Fight didn't happen, but it was the first step Crystal had taken to put that part of her life behind her. Trying to live a relatively normal life wasn't going to be easy, but it wasn't like Crystal couldn't at least pretend to be ordinary.

Crystal didn't make the decision to go back to Japan lightly. It had come about because of Tyriel. Having been transformed into a wolf spirit and taking on the behavioral patterns of some kind of observational demigod meant that it was easy for him to go relatively unnoticed even when he started to take an interest in other people's lives. Her friend certainly had more than enough time available for it. And then one day, out of nowhere, Tyriel had materialized in front of Crystal when she was on her way back from the waterfall to inform her that someone she might like to see had been sighted in Funbari. He had deliberately neglected to mention exactly who he meant, but then Crystal could have guessed anyway, not that she was prepared to believe it. After all, Hao had opted to remain within the Great Spirit once the tournament was over. He might have changed his mind about killing all the humans, but the fact simple fact that Crystal had returned home and gone back to school seemed to reinforce the fact that in a technical sense he was gone and she wasn't likely to see him again until she met her demise in some other fashion. However, as could be evidenced by her visit to Funbari Onsen, this turned out not to be the case.

Why else would she have ended up in Izumo standing around in a bathrobe in the middle of the night in an expansive courtyard in front of a nice little stone pond. Unless someone would be kind enough to tell her what was going on, Crystal somehow doubted that she would be getting to sleep anytime soon. Not that she was complaining about lack of sleep. The Asakura family had excellent taste in real estate and the moon was lovely so she was cheerfully indulging in taking in the view of the night sky even as she firmly believed that somewhere down the line she must have really lost her mind. On the other hand, stargazing did seem to help to ease her confusion so maybe she was just having a mental breakdown. Of course the real reason she was so out of sorts was because of the fact that even though she had tried, rather unsuccessfully, to bury her feelings by keeping herself distracted with things like schoolwork and spending time with her other friends, there are some feelings that just don't go away. Crystal might have managed to convince herself that she couldn't define or understand them, but that didn't mean she didn't have them.

So, information overload combined with unresolved emotional tension was starting to get to her. It should be firmly noted that at that point there was nothing sexual about it, not that Crystal would have known the difference. Quite frankly, both have been known to produce an unnecessary amount of stress. Nevertheless, if Crystal hadn't been so focused on the mental train wreck, hurricane and earthquake that were becoming a very real threat to her stability, she might have noticed when Hao first started walking up behind her. Needless to say, on account of the previously illustrated random assortment of disasters that were occupying her mental space it was unlikely that she would have noticed anything that wasn't glittering up in the sky directly in front of her.

"Can't sleep?" Hao was trying to be nice. He knew very well that he was at least partially responsible for the girl's confusion. A certain wolf spirit hadn't been much help on that matter, but Tyriel had assured him that once Crystal was up to speed she would probably get over it. Hao certainly hoped that was true. He was already worried he might have overdone it a little what with being suddenly reintroduced into Crystal's life and not exactly trying to push her away. Yeah, it might have been the fact that he had openly admitted that he liked having her around that had effectively broken her.

"Don't want to," Crystal sounded distant and a little bit wistful. "I mean, I know it will probably be easier to get my thoughts sorted out once I get some rest, but I feel like if I do all of this will somehow disappear."

Hao felt a slight twinge when she said that. He didn't know what was going on with the apparent emotional roller coaster that must have been racing around inside the poor girl's mind, for which he was both thankful and mildly irritated because it meant he didn't know what he could say that might actually help. Still, the fact that she had been effected so much by the fact that he had been gone, however briefly that had actually been, must have meant that it was better for him to be there, right? The only thing he could think of to comfort her, even just a little bit, was to step closer and put his arms around her. This was, admittedly, more awkward than he thought it would be. Then again, actually caring about someone usually was.

"I'm not going anywhere," Hao's voice was soft and gentle. He sounded like he must have really meant it. He definitely felt like he did. It was a very strange feeling, one that he couldn't quite place, like it was something he hadn't experienced for a very long time, but aside from that it seemed right somehow.

Crystal quietly leaned back against him. She seemed much more relaxed and at ease. This seemed strange to Hao since he wasn't sure he had actually done anything worthwhile to make her feel better, but whatever he had done seemed to have worked regardless of his expectations.

"Thank you," she eventually broke the silence.

"Does that mean you're okay?" Hao was still somewhat puzzled by the fact that Crystal was apparently more comfortable with what was going on when she was with him. That attitude couldn't have been fueled by any kind of rational feeling, but then he wasn't exactly being rational at the moment either. Come to think of it, what had gotten into him? Since when did Hao go around hugging anyone? One of these days he was going to have to get someone to explain what had just happened here to him.

"I'll manage," Crystal responded. She was starting to sound tired which only proved that she had been pushing herself too hard in the first place. Really, she needed to take it easy.

Hao rested his chin on her shoulder, "You know, both of us should be asleep." He paused and then, as an afterthought, he added, "I suppose you can stay in my room if that would make you feel better." Then he quickly stepped away from her.

Crystal's reaction was both immediate and predictable. Blushing profusely, check. Flailing wildly, double check. And if she hadn't been so physically exhausted the flailing might have gone on longer if she hadn't remembered the fact that there didn't seem to be anyone else outside to have been watching them. It took her several seconds to get that all out of her system enough to calm herself down, although she was still kind of red in the face. Once she had gotten a hold of herself, what Crystal said next was unexpected enough that it almost threw Hao off completely.

"Are you serious about that?" To be perfectly honest, she couldn't believe that _she_ was being serious.

By that point Hao was doing a fair amount of blushing himself. "You know, now I'm not completely sure. I didn't think you would actually agree to it."

Crystal suddenly became very interested in looking down at her feet. "Because, I think, it might actually be a good idea. I mean, I do tend to feel better when I'm with you."

"Well, if you want to..." Hao's voice softened. He was still surprised, to say the least, but he really couldn't argue with that. "I guess that would be alright."

There would be more than enough time for them to freak out about it when they woke up together the next morning.

**To Be Continued...**


	20. Izumo Chronicles Part 2

Author's Notes: I think the weird part of this is that I kept picturing manga panels when I was working on it. Then again, that might have been because I was writing this from around 3:00 a.m. until 5:00 a.m. on the day I wrote it. Let's just say that I can get very into what I'm writing.

* * *

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

* * *

Izumo Chronicles Part 2 - Friends, Family and Talking Cats

With the events of the previous night well behind her, Crystal woke up to find that she was both strangely comfortable and suspiciously not alone. Fortunately for all parties involved, particularly Hao, Crystal hadn't suffered amnesia which meant that there was no screaming or flailing to accompany the sudden realization that what happened last night had actually happened. There was just one problem, however, and it was that all of her personal belongings, including the prospect of a change of clothes to replace the robe she was still dressed in, were back in the room she _should_ have spent the night in.

From the looks of it, Hao was still asleep. Or he might have been pretending to be. It didn't make too much of a difference. It wasn't like they were in the same bed or anything like that. Despite popular belief, Hao wasn't always a pervert and he was perfectly capable of being a good host so he had simply laid out a second futon to help facilitate his offer to let Crystal spend the night in his room. Hence, there had been nothing unsavory or inappropriate going on between them. It had simply been a matter of making it easier for Crystal to get to sleep. Moreover, it actually worked. No harm done.

Not that anyone besides the two of them knew about it. At least, that was what Crystal thought. She was occasionally wrong about things like that. Nevertheless, she could easily leave without having to disturb Hao, assuming he was really asleep, to return to the guest room that had been put together for her to get changed in a fresh set of clothes. The Asakura family had a huge estate. Even if anyone else was there, the odds of running into them were very slim. Especially, Crystal reasoned, when it felt like it must have been awfully early in the morning. And so, she made her escape.

* * *

Hao might have been asleep at first, but after he woke up he decided to fake it. Then, once he heard Crystal's footsteps leave the room he propped himself on an elbow and looked off to one corner to find Matamune smiling back at him.

"That was awfully generous of you," Hao's feline companion noted with a hint of amusement evident in his voice. "I approve."

Hao rolled his eyes and flopped back on his futon mattress. "It's not like I actually did anything."

"Hm," Matamune seemed to contemplate this. "Perhaps you're right, but then perhaps it's because you really didn't need to."

Hao considered this as he quietly stared up at the ceiling. "'Just being there is enough', huh? I remember that was one of the things she used to think a lot." He wrinkled his nose. "Actually, she had a lot of complicated thoughts about friendship. I could never understand any of it."

"It's possible she didn't either," Matamune pointed out to him. "She might have been searching for a way to define it because she didn't realize she already had the right answer." He paused and added, "Keep in mind that she probably feels the same way about the concept of love."

Hao could feel his cheeks burning a little at that and quickly covered his face with his blankets. Matamune took this to be a good sign.

"She was prepared to let you go when you took your throne as Shaman King," Matamune reminded him. "Very few people in this world are actively willing to put others before themselves, but I'm sure you already knew that."

Hao's voice was muffled by the blankets that were on top of him, "She really was happy to see me again." He went quiet for several long seconds as he shifted the blankets away from his face. "I guess I just don't know how to respond to that."

"Some things you know without thinking about them," Matamune sounded thoughtful. He paused and added, "I think you handled yourself amazingly well last night."

* * *

Blue jeans and a t-shirt were certainly much more conducive to the act of exploring. Given the full extent of the Asakura family's estate, Crystal had more than enough ground to cover. Of course there was only so much she could accomplish on an empty stomach and sooner or later she was going to have to concede defeat to the whims of her stomach to pursue the elusive concept of breakfast.

Part of the reason that Hao had recommended the transition from Funbari Onsen to the estate in Izumo was because the inn had gotten unnecessarily crowded what with Horohoro and various members of the Tao family frequently passing through. It wasn't the only reason though. The other reason, that Crystal hadn't been aware of until she got there, was that Hao wanted for her to see his real self. The Hao she had been interacting with in Funbari had been an illusion, an astral projection of sorts that enabled him to be in multiple places at the same time. Crystal didn't really know the mechanics behind it, but it kind of explained the fact that up until she had seen Hao in Izumo it had seemed like he still had almost the same appearance that he had when he was fifteen. Needless to say, the real one had actually gotten a bit taller.

This was just one of the changes that Crystal was still trying to get accustomed to. She wasn't going to hold it against him. After all, the fact that he had been willing to reveal the truth to her meant that at some fundamental level he must have been willing to trust her and she didn't want to ruin that. And besides, it really was much more quiet and peaceful to spend time away from the crowd that typically congregated at Funbari Onsen. Admittedly, she probably should have told Cat about the fact that she was going to be away for a few days.

Crystal's exploration was cut short when she realized she was no longer by herself.

Hao had adopted a casual wardrobe notably similar to Yoh's. There were some subtle variations though. For instance, his signature five-pointed star was on his belt buckle.

"You're probably getting hungry, right?" he greeted Crystal. If he had actually been asleep when she had left his room, then Hao probably wouldn't have caught up with her so quickly.

"A little bit," Crystal admitted. She sounded a little bit sheepish. "I still can't believe how amazing this place is."

"And there will be plenty of time for me to give you a proper tour after breakfast," Hao informed her. For some reason the simple prospect of this made him smile. It was probably because it had been a rather long time since he had been given the opportunity to entertain a guest. He waved for Crystal to follow him. "Come on, the kitchen is this way."

"Alright," Crystal shrugged and hurried after him.

* * *

When they reached the kitchen they found Yoh wearing an apron and tending to the stove. Now, Yoh wasn't really surprised to see Hao, but he _was_ surprised to see Crystal there with him.

"Good morning nii-chan," Yoh greeted his older twin. Much to Hao's annoyance Yoh hadn't stopped referring to him that way since the conclusion of the Shaman Fight. Hao knew Yoh only meant it as a form of endearment, but for some reason it just felt so undignified. Right now Hao wasn't going to let it bother him since he could already hear the question that was coming in Yoh's voice. "When did Crystal get here?"

"Yesterday," Crystal clarified. "Hi Yoh." Well, she couldn't really be expected to be surprised to see Yoh considering this was technically his home. Moreover, she recalled that she hadn't seen him or Anna back at Funbari Onsen the last few days that she had been there anyway.

Hao smiled in amusement. "Well, there you go. I actually invited someone over for a change. Since you already started on breakfast I guess we'll just wait for you to finish up in here." He managed to make it sound like there was a teasing little musical note hanging over the end of that last statement.

"Uh right," Yoh couldn't afford to argue at the moment. After all, Anna was waiting for him to finish making breakfast anyway. Still, sometimes he wished that Hao wouldn't take advantage of him like that.

With that taken care of Hao decided that he might as well escort Crystal to the dining room.

* * *

Hao found great amusement in the surprised expressions given to him by both Anna and Yohmei when he brought Crystal into the room. It was like they had never seen Hao engaging in normal social interactions before. Alright, so maybe they technically hadn't, but Hao still thought their reaction was funny. Of course part of their surprise was probably resulting from the fact that Crystal seemed to be going along with it. Anna's expression became even more entertaining to watch when she realized she was ruining her facade and attempted not to look surprised.

"Weren't you staying in Funbari?" Anna decided to address Crystal directly, doing her best to ignore Hao until she regained her composure.

"It got a little crowded," Crystal admitted. "Hao suggested I come here instead. At least, until things wind down a little."

"I see," Anna decided not to press the issue. After all, Hao was just as much a part of the family as she was. If he wanted to invite people over unannounced, then who was she to stop him.

The tension in the room gradually faded and by the time Yoh arrived with breakfast it was more or less gone. Nevertheless, it was still a rather peculiar way to start off the day.

* * *

Some odd hours later, after Crystal had indulged in a rather awkward breakfast in Izumo, Cat woke up back at Funbari Onsen lovingly tangled up with a certain blue-haired Ainu shaman. By then it was already afternoon. At that point in time, Cat still hadn't noticed that Crystal had gone missing from Funbari Onsen, but once she secured some clothes so she could make herself presentable to go downstairs she was bound to find out.

**To Be Continued...**


	21. Izumo Chronicles Part 3

Author's Notes: I think this installment best exemplifies my somewhat twisted sense of humor.

* * *

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

* * *

Izumo Chronicles Part 3 - The Search Begins

In retrospect, Crystal really should have left a note for Cat to let her know she probably wasn't going to make it back to Funbari Onsen for several days. Unfortunately, she hadn't thought to do that so that meant that once Cat managed to get herself out of bed and properly dressed it only took her a few minutes to notice that Crystal wasn't there. This elicited Cat to perform a high speed investigation of all of Crystal's usual hangouts in the neighborhood surrounding the inn.

Crystal wasn't at the river and she wasn't on the roof. She wasn't in the onsen either. However, that did cause a rather awkward moment for Ren who hadn't been expecting anyone to burst in on him like that. "Sorry Ren, have you seen Crystal?" Then Cat sped away leaving a blushing and thoroughly flustered Ren behind her. Finally she went back upstairs to check the room that Crystal had been staying in. Cat knocked on the door and when there wasn't an answer she tested the door. It opened and Cat immediately realized that Crystal wasn't there. However, she did catch a brief glimpse of Jun in what might have been a rather compromising position with Bailong. "Oops, sorry Jun. Sorry Bailong. Have either of you seen Crystal?" Cat zoomed off back downstairs again and this time she found Horohoro helping himself to a late breakfast in the kitchen.

"Horohoro," she whined pitifully. "I can't find Crystal."

"Sorry," Horohoro sounded apologetic. "I haven't seen her." He paused. "Or Hao." He paused again. "Actually, come to think of it, I don't think Yoh or Anna are here either."

"Um," Tamao couldn't help but overhear their conversation since she happened to be in the room making tea. "I'm pretty sure Yoh-sama and Anna-sama went to Izumo a few days ago."

Cat made a very good show of invading Tamao's personal space. "Do you think Crystal and Hao might have gone there too?"

"Maybe," Tamao squeaked and tried to back away. "I mean, the Asakura family does own a house there."

"Then that's where I'm going to look." Cat turned back on Horohoro, much to Tamao's relief. "Are you up to a little road trip?"

"Um, sure?" Horohoro just looked innocent and confused. "When do we leave?"

Cat faltered a little at that. "Well, I don't know the way to Izumo so I guess we're going to have to find someone who knows and ask them for directions."

By then Tamao had escaped into the other room with her tray of tea. As far as she was concerned, Cat's enthusiasm was a little scary. Nevertheless, Cat and Horohoro were eventually able to secure a map with a highlighted route to get to Yoh's house in Izumo from Ryu. And after that was taken care of it was just a simple matter of using Horohoro's hitchhiking skills to get them there. Even so, it was probably going to take a couple of days.

* * *

As promised, once breakfast was out of the way, Hao had set about taking Crystal on a tour of the estate. Given that the estate had belonged to the Asakura family for roughly 1000 years it was fairly obvious that Hao was going to take credit for the location and the architecture. And, of course, his choice of landmarks worth pointing out was rather self centered what with the fact that there was a shrine to himself hidden on the premises. Considering the extent of his ego, this really didn't come as much of a surprise and actually just seemed rather fitting somehow. For that matter, there were also quite a lot of cats wandering around.

By the time Cat and Horohoro finally got around to forming a search party consisting only of themselves to venture forth from Funbari Onsen, which was around the illusory hour known as lunchtime, this had somehow culminated in the fact that Hao was forced to follow Crystal up a tree that she had become distracted into climbing because it was just one of those tall trees that looked perfect for climbing. The tree itself was situated along the mountains that bordered the estate which meant that the added elevation would provide them with a rather impressive aerial view.

"I had forgotten about your affinity for high places," Hao remarked once he reached the branch that Crystal was perching on. Although it was rather far up the tree, the branch seemed sturdy enough that Hao saw no harm in joining her.

"Well," Crystal started, "it doesn't generally come up unless I have an excuse to act on it."

"You mean, like you did during the Shaman Fight?" Hao couldn't help asking.

Crystal scratched behind her ear. "You kind of gave me the idea for that because of Spirit of Fire." She paused, lowering her hand from her ear. "You told me I shouldn't count on you to catch me if I fell so I decided to improvise."

"Did I really say that?" Hao had to think back to it. Then he glanced at Crystal, "You know I didn't mean it like that."

Crystal smiled. "Of course you didn't. You just wanted me to be more careful." She paused and added, "But you didn't want to say so directly."

Hao looked off into the distance. "You were really onto me the whole time, weren't you?"

"Well," Crystal started slowly. "No, not the whole time. All I had to go on was a feeling I couldn't explain. Once the pieces started falling into place, then I thought I had a better idea of what was going on. I mean, all I could really do was make an educated guess and trust my intuition."

"At least you had your friends to back you up, right?" Hao still didn't fully comprehend the concept, but he had at least come to appreciate what it seemed to signify for those around him.

"That's true," Crystal looked off into the distance herself. "I was always more worried about being a good friend. I'm glad they were there for me, but I still worry about being a burden on them. It's confusing because I want to believe I'm doing the right thing, but I can never tell whether it's actually working or not."

Hao became thoughtful. "You make it a lot more difficult for yourself than it has to be."

"That's probably true." Crystal couldn't help but laugh. "Of course, no one really tries to stop me from thinking like that."

Hao turned back to her skeptically. "Do you even bother to tell them what you're thinking?"

"I guess not," Crystal admitted quietly. She rested her hands on either side of her along the surface of the tree branch.

Hao remained quiet a little while longer before asking, "You do remember that I can't read your mind anymore, right? Why do you still bother to tell me what's on your mind?"

"I want to say that it's just force of habit," Crystal responded, "but I don't think that's all there is to it. I mean, for one thing you actually ask. I'm pretty much an open book when people let me get away with it."

"I've noticed," Hao acknowledged with some amusement. Then, as an afterthought, he added, "It's cute."

After he said that Crystal tried really hard not to start blushing. It didn't really work though. Of course, then she became distracted by a quiet growl from her stomach.

"And I suppose that means we might as well get down from this tree to grab some lunch," Hao announced as he easily began to make his descent from the tree.

Crystal remained silent as she followed after him. If anyone else had dared to call her cute she would have argued against it, declaring that she "doesn't do cute", but for some reason with Hao she couldn't rightfully bring herself to say it. Really, why did he even have that effect on her? When she approached the bottom of the tree, still partially absorbed in her thoughts, she kind of lost her footing. She really wasn't all that far from the ground, but Hao was still the one that caught her.

"Would it help your concentration if I didn't tease you so much?" he asked her seriously as he set her back on her feet.

"It might," Crystal admitted in a quiet voice. She wasn't quite sure what he was getting at. Or maybe she could and she was just having a hard time convincing herself that it was actually happening. Really, could it?

* * *

Meanwhile, much to Anna's annoyance, Yoh had been pacing around trying to make sense of the morning's events. After all, Yoh had been one of the first to really try to accept and understand his brother, but even he had barely seen this one coming. He was both surprised and knew he shouldn't be. The signs had been there from the onset, hadn't they? Yoh probably just wasn't paying enough attention for it to register before what he had witnessed that morning. Still, for Yoh it was nice to see that Hao was finally trying to open up to someone besides him. And Anna. She must have appreciated it too, even if she wasn't inclined to say anything to that effect.

"Yoh," Anna's voice brought him out of his little reverie. "If you keep pacing like that you're going to leave dents in the floor."

"Sorry Anna," Yoh sounded a little bit nervous as he rubbed the back of his head looking slightly embarrassed. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about this morning."

"It's really not that big a deal and you know it," Anna stated simply. "Besides, they'll get along a lot better if you don't try to push them into it."

"I'll take your word for it," Yoh decided after thinking it over. Anna was probably right.

* * *

Hao was actually surprisingly at home in the kitchen. He had decided that yakitori would be the best option since once it was ready he and Crystal would be able to head back outside without drawing too much attention to themselves. Of course he was improvising by using the stove instead of a charcoal grill, but aside from giving it a slightly different taste it wasn't like it would make too much of a difference. Besides, Hao knew how to handle fire.

Needless to say, Yoh was a little bit startled to find that his brother was actually cooking for a change. At first he thought he was hallucinating, but then sure enough Hao was standing there wearing an apron with Crystal watching attentively. Hao took in Yoh's expression and gave him a falsely innocent smile.

"Don't worry Yoh," there was obvious amusement in Hao's voice. "You still get to make your own."

**To Be Continued...**


	22. Izumo Chronicles Part 4

Author's Notes: When I first started to work on this installment I had hoped that it would be the conclusion. Certain developments prevented that from happening.

* * *

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

* * *

Izumo Chronicles Part 4 - Not So Complicated

Soon enough the stars were out again. And beneath that night sky, Cat and Horohoro were nestled together in the bed of a pickup truck still making their way to Izumo in search of Crystal. It had been a long day for the both of them, but their journey wasn't over yet.

* * *

The following morning started out in almost the same as manner the previous one with a few exceptions. First of all, Crystal's presence in Izumo was no longer a source of surprise now that she had been there for more than a day. Secondly, after what turned out to be a somewhat less awkward breakfast, Yoh tried to convince Hao to let him borrow Crystal for a little while. What made this all the more unusual was the fact that Hao actually agreed to go along with it. Then again, there's a time and place for everything, right?

"So," Yoh wasn't really sure where to start. "I guess we've never really had much of a chance to talk, huh?"

"That can happen when people are on opposing teams during a tournament," Crystal pointed out. "It was nothing personal."

"I'm still surprised anyone would work so hard for a tournament they never planned to win," Yoh responded.

Crystal was amused by this. "You know, the funny part is that I can thank your brother for that. I wouldn't have even been there if it wasn't for the fact that he happened to drop by my neighborhood a couple years before the tournament. I didn't even know I was a shaman before that."

"That must have been awkward," Yoh suggested. "How could you not notice that you were seeing spirits?"

Crystal considered this. Then she answered, "I guess by being a hippy spending my time on the playground after school making up games that revolved around giant monsters and dinosaurs. I thought it was just my imagination. It's not like there was anyone around to tell me they were real."

"And meeting Hao changed that," Yoh found the fact that there apparently hadn't been any violence involved fascinating.

"Well," Crystal started, "I might have a powerful imagination, but Spirit of Fire was outside the spectrum of creatures that would usually materialize around me. That's why I knew it wasn't one of mine. And then I met Taki. Talking cats weren't exactly in the spectrum of creatures I typically dealt with either. She taught me the basics and then I just kind of improvised from there."

"Wait," Yoh sounded surprised. "Are you saying that none of that even scared you?"

Crystal shrugged. "Maybe I'm just better at coping with strangeness, but the things that generally creep me out tend to be ordinary and mundane by comparison. When I know what I'm getting into is probably going to be dangerous it just doesn't seem to bother me so much." She paused to give it some thought and then she added, "I think I have more fun that way."

"Right," Yoh responded. "I remember Anna said there was something wrong with your sense of self preservation."

"I believe that was her way of telling me that I was insane," Crystal continued. "I just didn't see the point in worrying. Tyriel didn't either. Being scared of the future isn't a very productive way to help anyone."

"Is that why you didn't intervene at the end of the tournament?" Yoh asked.

"I didn't have to," Crystal replied. "In that case, I had a feeling everything was going to be alright so I decided to stay out of it. I knew I wasn't the one who could make a difference anyway."

Yoh couldn't help but smile. "I think I can see why he likes you. You really have your own way of looking at things."

"Whether they know it or not, everyone could use a friend," Crystal stated matter-of-factly. "I'm just someone who tries to give people a chance."

"Does that include yourself?" As always, Yoh demonstrated that he was much more observant than he lets on.

Crystal didn't follow. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's just that I've seen you with Hao," Yoh explained. "The two of you seem happy together. I'm just wondering why you've been holding yourself back."

Crystal brought a palm to her forehead as realization dawned on her. "Am I just surrounded by matchmakers or what?"

"Sorry," Yoh became apologetic. "I just think you should stop being so hard on yourself about it. You know, there's really nothing wrong about the way you feel except that you don't want to let yourself feel it."

Crystal decided not to argue. "You're probably right about that. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a certain wolf spirit I've been meaning to have a word with."

"Uh yeah," Yoh was surprised he didn't get more of a thrashing for saying all that. "I guess I'll see you later."

Crystal hesitated long enough to add, "I guess this means I was right to think that we should be friends." Then she took off.

Yoh was very confused. Crystal had taken that amazingly well.

* * *

Crystal withdrew a couple of seemingly ordinary grains of sand from the pocket of her blue jeans. She held one in each hand and then let them fall on either side of her. Before they could hit the ground two wolf-like creatures took their place to stand beside her. Their resemblance to wolves was limited. They had thick, sturdy reptilian tails and slightly elongated necks. On top of that they had primarily draconic facial features, including a reptilian snout. And they also had leathery, segmented wings like those traditionally associated with Western-style dragons. Their fur was blue-white in color and they had metallic silver talons. Their eyes were a pale, silvery blue color with slitted pupils.

"Tyriel if you don't show yourself it might become necessary for me to drag you out by force," she used the most menacing tone she could manage which was difficult given the fact that she was trying not to laugh about how ridiculous she must have sounded.

The large, black wolf spirit easily materialized in front of her. "Should I venture to ask why you feel it is necessary to bring out your little pets when you think I might not cooperate?"

"No reason," Crystal responded. "I just felt like it."

"Well," Tyriel offered her a fangy grin, "I suppose that's different. So, what do you want?"

"I'm curious to know if you realize what you've gotten me into by suggesting I come back to Japan," Crystal stated simply. "I doubt all this has just been a coincidence."

Tyriel snorted in amusement. "You needed someone to knock some sense into you."

"Since when did you become the judge of that?" Crystal demanded.

Tyriel simply gave her a wolfish smirk. "Since you were doing very badly at it yourself. I think I did you a favor."

"Maybe," Crystal grumbled. "It isn't really fair though. I never asked for this."

"Perhaps not," Tyriel admitted, "but it is what you wanted. That much was obvious." His expression relaxed into more of a fang-filled canine smile. "Now then, get on with it. You know he's good for you."

With that the two wolf-like dragons prepared to pounce on him, but Tyriel was faster. He bolted and took off at a run with the two familiars chasing after him. As far as Tyriel was concerned, it was good exercise.

* * *

Crystal eventually lost interest in trying to punish Tyriel for meddling in her life and called off her wolf-like dragons so that he could be on his way. This was largely because Hao had noticed what was going on and took it upon himself to come over to watch at which point the whole confrontation just seemed rather silly. Granted, it was silly and Crystal knew it, but with an audience present it just seemed to stand out more.

"It would seem you've managed to keep yourself entertained in my absence," Hao commented in amusement. He certainly hadn't seen her use _those_ familiars before which meant they must have been new.

"Yeah well," Crystal rubbed the back of her head. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"I'm sure," Hao decided not to comment on the fact that Crystal attempted modesty was only serving to make her seem more adorable than she already was whether that was her intention or not. However, this train of thought was interrupted by a voice that was both very loud and rather far away.

"OH MY GOD I AM MARRYING THIS HOUSE!" Cat's enthusiastic shouting could probably be heard throughout the entire estate and then some.

Crystal rubbed her temples. "I guess Cat must have figured out I was gone, huh?"

"Do I really need to answer that?" Hao responded.

Needless to say, after that they went to investigate the intrusion.

* * *

Cat didn't give either of them time to give her a proper welcome. She started rattling on at great length and with such volume that their only choice was to let her finish. "Since you two ran away together I'm going to assume you eloped. Come on, let me see the rings. What do you mean there aren't any? We're going to have to fix that. And how dare you leave me behind like that. I want to be at the wedding!"

When Cat finally ran out of breath Crystal was immediately on the defensive. "Nothing happened!"

"Nothing like that anyway," Hao added although in all honesty he found the accusation to be terribly amusing.

Horohoro just looked dazed and confused. It was his first time seeing Yoh's _other_ house and he hadn't expected it to be quite so huge. And he really didn't have the slightest idea what Cat was talking about, but from the tone she was using she must have thought it was extremely important.

"Well then what have you been doing?" Cat demanded.

Crystal sighed in defeat, "Nothing you can possibly incriminate me for."

"Perhaps we should sort this all out over some tea," Hao suggested now that the conversation was operating at a more reasonable volume. There was going to be quite a lot of explaining to do.

**To Be Continued...**


	23. Izumo Chronicles Part 5

Additional Author's Notes: In case you haven't noticed already, I do tend to take some creative liberties with my writing. That's my way of saying that sometimes I will deliberately introduce plot elements that don't have any canonical evidence to support them. The scary thing about this is that a lot of the time it ends up making sense.

* * *

Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Shaman King and its characters are the property of Hiroyuki Takei. All original characters are also the property of their respective creators.

Author's Notes: As this story arc begins to draw to a close I can't help but think that there will be some people who will be angry about the stage that is being set. I take full responsibility for being the one to actually write it out, but the truth of the matter is that my friends kind of pushed this one on me. I'll explain how that happened once it's over.

* * *

Izumo Chronicles Part 5 - Memories That Shape Tomorrow

"So let me get this straight," Cat sounded incredibly disappointed. "All you guys have done is wander around talking about stuff. You haven't even _kissed_ yet?"

"That about sums it up," Crystal replied. She had left out some of the fine details, such as her spending the night in Hao's room that first night, for her own benefit. The last thing she wanted to deal with was Cat squealing over her. "Like I said before, nothing happened."

"But then why did you leave Funbari Onsen?" Cat demanded.

"It was getting crowded," Crystal answered truthfully. "And it was Hao's idea. I went along with it because it sounded like a nice place with a little more breathing room."

"It _is_ nice," Cat admitted. "I'm thinking of moving in myself. And Horohoro too, of course." Then she turned on Hao. "And you. When the hell did you get taller?"

"Astral projection," Hao stated simply. "The me you've seen in Funbari was an illusory projection."

Horohoro really wasn't sure what to think about all of this. He thought that Cat had wanted to find Crystal, but now it sounded like she was intent on playing matchmaker. Based on his understanding, wasn't that game supposed to be dangerous?

* * *

When Yoh and Anna eventually joined the proceedings, the atmosphere changed abruptly. Cat immediately latched onto Yoh and absolutely refused to let him go. Yoh, for his part, still hadn't figured out how to fight her off when she was like that so he just hoped she would eventually release him on her own. Surprisingly, it wasn't actually him she was interested in for once.

"I'm marrying this house," Cat declared once again. "It's alright for me to stay here, right? I really love this house. It's huge and amazing and beautiful and sexy and did I mention I want to marry it." She glanced at Anna. "And I'm proposing to marry the house. I'm not trying to steal your husband today." Then she was facing Yoh again. "So, can I please stay? Oh, and Horohoro is staying with me." It honestly sounded like there should have been a heart floating at the end of that last part.

Horohoro spoke up in his own defense. "This is entirely her idea. I had nothing to do with it."

"You haven't really tried to discourage her," noted Hao. He found the fact that Yoh was flailing about in Cat's clutches to be most amusing.

Horohoro stared at him incredulously. "Have _you_ ever tried stopping her when she gets like this? It's impossible."

* * *

Eventually Hao decided that as long as Cat was favoring trying to plead with Yoh about staying at the house he might as well let his brother have the responsibility of setting up rooms for their new guests. So, while Cat wasn't paying attention, Hao snagged Crystal and made a strategic withdrawl so they could have some time to themselves. With some luck Cat would be too preoccupied with harassing Yoh to notice they were gone for at least a couple of hours.

"I should have known she wasn't going to let me live this down," Crystal sighed heavily once they were safely out of earshot up in a certain familiar tree.

"At least she means well," Hao pointed out to her.

"I guess so," Crystal admitted quietly. "Still, it seems like I've been getting this a lot lately."

"Perhaps there is a reason for that," Hao suggested.

Crystal brought a palm to her forehead. "Don't you start too."

"That bad, huh?" Hao decided to back off for the moment.

Crystal sighed again. "I guess it's not really bad. I just wish they weren't all so insistent about it. Why can't they just let me sort things out for myself?"

"Because that would be boring?" was Hao's response. "There's no end of entertainment for them with the way you react."

Crystal thought it over before she spoke again. "I must be getting really predictable." Then she glanced at Hao, "You seem to be taking this all pretty well considering you haven't exactly been exempt from the accusations."

Hao smiled thoughtfully. "I've simply chosen not to let it get to me."

"I guess that's why they're mostly targeting me," Crystal considered.

"Don't worry about it so much," Hao told her trying to sound reassuring. "I know you'll sort things out eventually."

Crystal relaxed a little. "It's nice that you're so patient."

"It took me the better part of three lifetimes to become Shaman King," Hao reminded her. "I don't mind letting you get used to your feelings."

Crystal tried not to blush and failed spectacularly, but she definitely felt better talking to Hao. "I suppose you would know this stuff considering you've gone through puberty three times already. I've only done it once and I already feel like I'm losing it."

"You'll feel better once you let yourself get over it," Hao assured her. "Let me know when you do."

* * *

Eventually they came down from the tree to go face the others again. By then Anna had presumably pried Cat off of Yoh and shoved her back on Horohoro so that maybe Cat would mellow out a little and _stop talking_. With that being the case, once she caught up with them it would probably be awhile until Crystal and Hao would get to experience peace and quiet again. It wasn't so bad though.

"Before we get caught up in all of that again," Crystal started slowly. "There's something I've been meaning to do."

Hao quirked an eyebrow. "Oh really? And what's that?"

Crystal stepped forward and gave him a light kiss. Hao was immediately stunned into silence by this and even more-so by what she said next.

"I _do_ love you. That much hasn't changed," Crystal was blushing, but she was also smiling about it so that was a good sign.

* * *

_Events are seldom understood_

_As they unfold_

_Yet, as we look to the future_

_We see the past more clearly_

Asakura Hana didn't appreciate being messed with by his uncle. He could barely get a moment to himself at home and even when he wasn't there he was always being watched. Why did his uncle feel obligated to victimize him so much? Even so, on this fateful day, Hana wasn't at all prepared for what was about to happen.

It happened suddenly. As he came downstairs from his room at Funbari Onsen to leave for school he spotted Cat curled up with Horohoro by the table. The blue-haired Ainu was grinning just a little too widely for Hana's liking. What came next simply made it worse.

"So Hana, are you looking forward to finally meeting your cousins?" Yeah, that definitely did. Hana's feet swiftly impacted Horohoro's stomach.

"You shouldn't make jokes like that!" Hana shouted in annoyance. "It isn't funny."

"Actually," it was Cat's turn to intervene, "it's not a joke. They're supposed to be arriving today."

"But that's impossible," Hana insisted. "Uncle Hao can't have children. He's the Shaman King. He merged with the Great Spirit. I know he can materialize as an illusion to mess with me, but this definitely doesn't make sense."

Horohoro shrugged, having caught his breath. "You'd be surprised by what's really possible."

"It's ridiculous," Hana persisted. Now he simply didn't want to believe that it was true.

Cat waved him off. "You can see for yourself just how ridiculous it is when you get home from school."

Hana made a mental note that he wasn't going to be looking forward to it. Then he left. Unfortunately, denial wasn't likely to serve him very well when he came back.

**Izumo Chronicles - End**

**

* * *

**Author's Notes: Alright, so how did we decide that Hana has cousins? It happened the same way that I ended up writing a crossover between Shaman King and Digimon Adventure 02. I got the idea that, hypothetically speaking, Hana would most likely freak out if he ever found out that he had cousins. Then, somehow, these hypothetical children took on a life of their own and I was obligated to figure out where they came from. I thought it was a bad idea, but whenever I say anything to the effect of "Why am I even thinking about this?" or "I shouldn't even attempt this" my friends tend to demand the opposite. And then I end up writing about it because I can't rightfully tell them off. Anyway, despite the inherent wrongness of it all, I hope you managed to enjoy the story.

* * *

Additional Author's Notes: Once again, I have a somewhat twisted sense of humor.


End file.
